It was done. Teletext delivered news, sports results, horoscopes, closed captions, all directly to your TV in real-time. It was quite clever as a pre-internet method to deliver text content to every home.
All the people in the comments here being unaware of this makes me feel old.
This is one of the more SFW ones. You know what, I’ll make an ImageMagick script to crop & aspect-ratio-correct the rest of the ones I took and upload them. Coming soon!
Edit: Imgur album, feel free to report as NSFW lol - omg, the “SEX SEX SEX” sign is actually flashing
You can also view most German teletext services using their app for some reason
Who’s saying anything about being relevant. There is no need to smoke cigars or make oil paintings either. Yet people do things that they find interesting regardless of what you think. Interesting, huh?
When they were widely used, people called cassette tapes “tapes” (common) or “cassettes” (less common). I don’t recall anyone calling a VHS videotape or VCR “a VHS”.
Similarly, I have seen people recently say “a vinyl”, which wasn’t ever the way it was said. (it would be music “on vinyl” or “a record”).
The only time I have ever in my thirty years of life heard someone refer to a VHS as a “videotape” or “tape” is in the context of “tape that show for me”. It’s always been “Video” or if they’re specifying the format “grab the videotape” or “VHS” a lot like how people today say “DVD”.
I think we’d both agree someone who calls a “DVD” a “DVD Disc” insane and someone who just says “Disc” could mean CD-ROM, Blueray, so forth. It’s too general and I think the same thing applies to “tape”.
Yeah, “video” was common, but “VHS” wasn’t. Maybe kids who developed language as the format was expiring in the early-mid 90s didn’t have lots of examples and just thought the letters printed on the tape were a noun.
Like places in Asia jumped from radio to cable tv to mobile phones, skipping intermediate technologies like tv with only one or two channels, computers etc
There were many pages, I’m not sure if you count that as channels? Then the Teletext for closed captions were tied to the channel you were overlaying on.
It was done. Teletext delivered news, sports results, horoscopes, closed captions, all directly to your TV in real-time. It was quite clever as a pre-internet method to deliver text content to every home.
All the people in the comments here being unaware of this makes me feel old.
It was not a thing in the places I grew up in. But when I saw it working during a European visit, it blew my mind. That was 20 years ago.
I don’t know how it is in other countries, but at least here in Germany teletext is still a thing and works on all the larger channels.
Yes but
I never said it was good or practical lol
This is bringing back memories. I never saw raunchy classifieds like this in Aus though.
This is one of the more SFW ones. You know what, I’ll make an ImageMagick script to crop & aspect-ratio-correct the rest of the ones I took and upload them. Coming soon!
Edit: Imgur album, feel free to report as NSFW lol
- omg, the “SEX SEX SEX” sign is actually flashing
You can also view most German teletext services using their app for some reason
Teletext is a fun art form. Too bad the graphics are only really used for tarot and phone sex ads.
Anyway, here are some of my recreations of Czech cartoon characters using the online editor at edit.tf:
I have more but I am rate limited. Imgur album
It’s at least 30 year old technology. Maybe older.
Yup. I know because I grew up reading magazines with one article or two about it. It was neat to see it in person, though.
The current generation doesn’t even know what a VHS is. I’m sorry, time comes for us all.
My nieces once asked to see my rectangular DVDs…
In their defense when I was a kid I called red dead redemption, GTA cowboys. If kids dont know what to call something theyll figure out an equivalent.
I do. I’ve never seen or touched one, but I know what it is.
Buy one second hand and fiddle with it. Curious machines!
Out-dated and worthless you mean?
There is no need to understand the technology.
Not that tape storage is dead, it is just not relevant anymore.
Who’s saying anything about being relevant. There is no need to smoke cigars or make oil paintings either. Yet people do things that they find interesting regardless of what you think. Interesting, huh?
Don’t worry, I’ve never touched a gas lamp but I know what it is.
Do you mean a VCR? Or A “VHS tape”?
You know what a cassette is. I don’t need to call it a cassette tape do I?
When they were widely used, people called cassette tapes “tapes” (common) or “cassettes” (less common). I don’t recall anyone calling a VHS videotape or VCR “a VHS”.
Similarly, I have seen people recently say “a vinyl”, which wasn’t ever the way it was said. (it would be music “on vinyl” or “a record”).
The only time I have ever in my thirty years of life heard someone refer to a VHS as a “videotape” or “tape” is in the context of “tape that show for me”. It’s always been “Video” or if they’re specifying the format “grab the videotape” or “VHS” a lot like how people today say “DVD”.
I think we’d both agree someone who calls a “DVD” a “DVD Disc” insane and someone who just says “Disc” could mean CD-ROM, Blueray, so forth. It’s too general and I think the same thing applies to “tape”.
Yeah, “video” was common, but “VHS” wasn’t. Maybe kids who developed language as the format was expiring in the early-mid 90s didn’t have lots of examples and just thought the letters printed on the tape were a noun.
It was when both VHS and Betamax was on the market.
Teletext in the Netherlands has an app now. People still use it.
Hey, while it looks like a dog’s breakfast, it is an incredibly low bandwidth solution for such a useful service.
On NY1 they just straight up read the newspaper to you on TV.
There are many radio shows around the world dedicated to reading news articles for print impaired people. Great for when you’re driving as well.
Some places didn’t have that.
Like places in Asia jumped from radio to cable tv to mobile phones, skipping intermediate technologies like tv with only one or two channels, computers etc
That surprises me. Many parts of Asia have a big gambling scene; one of the main uses of Teletext was horse/dog racing odds in real time.
I think they might have been gambling with cards or lottery when teletext was a thing in Europe.
That was the thing in India at least.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matka_gambling
I remember this, but I think it was only one local channel here. It would show community events, snow plow schedules, and things like that.
Or was that something else?
There were many pages, I’m not sure if you count that as channels? Then the Teletext for closed captions were tied to the channel you were overlaying on.
Still exists in Sweden, though I haven’t seen it since I was a kid.