A Global Look at Teletext

I remember getting my first TV with Teletext (and CEEFAX)

I'd use it to look up Movie times at the local cinema and the weather forecast. We've came a long way since then !!

Nice article! I had rediscovered teletext for myself a few years ago, only vaguely remembering it existed (or something similar) in select cities in the US when I was a kid, but it was not something I paid much attention to. Getting interested, I began to wonder if you can set up your own teletext service.

Naturally, you can: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/create-your-own-teletext-se...

For those like me who weren't familiar with the service or lived in a country that really didn't have it, there's this informative site: https://teletextarchaeologist.org/

Edit: Sorry all, it looks like teletextarcheologist.org went dormant, so the archive no longer seems to be working.

Teletext still exists, and you can browse it online, for example via this page: https://sites.google.com/view/teletextonline

In case you’re unfamiliar, three-digit numbers on Teletext pages serve as hyperlinks. On a TV you would enter them on the remote control, in the browser you can just click or tap on them.

There are also mobile apps for accessing Teletext.

I’d like to add that Dutch state news broadcaster NOS now offers Teletext though SSH. Just type `ssh teletekst.nl` and you can browse through all their pages.

They fully revamped their Teletext backend a couple of years ago to their own solution. They had archaic hardware still, and had to fly in some one from the UK (fully pensioned and well) to service it

I think teletext is what triggered my interest in computers etc. It was one of my first experiences with anything computer like. When I was around 9 years old I was visiting my grandmother just the day she was having her new TV delivered. This must have been in the late 80s and we didn't have a computer or anything. I didn't care that much for the TV itself but then he the TV installation guy wanted to show this cool new thing "Tekst TV" (Text TV) as it was called here. It was like a completely new world opening. I sat the whole weekend playing with it. They had satellite TV in the complex she lived, so there were 20-30 channels and lots of cool graphics to explore. Back at home: No teletext, just 1-2 channels.