We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#1

Post by empressplay » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 12:50 AM UTC

We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service
paleotronic.com

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#2

Post by NeedMoreTea » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 5:48 AM UTC

Had no idea there was a forerunner for printing, Beeb Fax from before fax machies too! :)

Philips did produce some Ceefax TV's with printers though.

https://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/12/philips-26... (Scroll a couple of pages as they have the world's biggest page header!)

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#3

Post by Jaruzel » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 6:48 AM UTC

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #2

Had no idea there was a forerunner for printing, Beeb Fax from before fax machies too! :) Philips did produce some Ceefax TV's with printers though. https://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/12/philips-26... (Scroll a couple of pages as they have the world's biggest page header!)

Wow, that guys site is a gold mine of classic TV information. There's several books-worth of information in there.

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#4

Post by _trampeltier » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 7:00 AM UTC

NeedMoreTea wrote: post #2

Had no idea there was a forerunner for printing, Beeb Fax from before fax machies too! :) Philips did produce some Ceefax TV's with printers though. https://obsoletetellyemuseum.blogspot.com/2011/12/philips-26... (Scroll a couple of pages as they have the world's biggest page header!)

I know a guy who, even today, use Teletext for all kind of things (mostly sport results).

I remember ORF (Austrian TV), they had samples of QBasic source code.

Teletext was really a nice thing to have in Europe.

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#5

Post by amelius » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 7:24 AM UTC

A centralized system.

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#6

Post by jenshk » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 7:42 AM UTC

Teletext have more than a million users in Denmark. Truly surprising to me but it is also kinda awesome. It certainly still serves a purpose. No ads, no noise just pure signal.

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#7

Post by alkonaut » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 8:43 AM UTC

jenshk wrote: post #6

Teletext have more than a million users in Denmark. Truly surprising to me but it is also kinda awesome. It certainly still serves a purpose. No ads, no noise just pure signal.

The swedish teletext is still also very popular. It's like the original internet and the internet for old people.

Even funnier: us semi-greybeards that do use this other internet, often still use teletext via app/web browser because it's such pure information.

It's news/weather/ and other info in curated and distilled form. Example: https://www.svt.se/svttext/web/pages/101.html

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#8

Post by gbraad » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 8:43 AM UTC

Teletekst is still active in the Netherlands, and they also offer a web interface and Android/iOS app to expose the info on your mobile devices. It is still beloved as all info is short and easy to consume while on the go. Fits perfectly into a Twitter loving society ;-)

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#9

Post by AnssiH » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 8:53 AM UTC

Teletext is still active in Finland:

Yle: http://yle.fi/tekstitv

MTV: http://www.mtvtekstikanava.fi/

Some random picks from a previous comment of mine:

MTV used to have classifieds on their teletext pages that you input using your (landline) phone.

Re: We See Facts: The BBC’s Ceefax Teletext Service

#10

Post by SmellyGeekBoy » Tue, Oct 09, 2018, 9:01 AM UTC

Also viewable on Acorn's BBC range of computers (e.g. Micro, Master) by means of an external interface: https://www.retro-kit.co.uk/page.cfm/content/Acorn-Teletext-...

Ceefax was actually published from these machines as well!