Absolutely beautiful and informative watch, kinda funny how i could get so emotional for a service that i never got the opportunity to use or knew about til a few months back while watching this, but i guess that tells just how well this was all put together :') Huge respect to everyone involved! and happy 50th anniversary :D
Yeah, this turned out to be surprisingly poignant. Not something you'd necessarily expect of that quirky news service with the funny graphics! I guess we learned how it was a lot of people's life and livelihood. Glad you enjoyed, it means a lot to us. Cheers! :)
Loved ceefax. All back when television was actually more interesting. Ceefax/teletext and all those open university programmes through the night. Far more interesting to read and watch than the rubbish thats on now. Clearly far more innovation back in the day, when everything now just feels we are going backwards.
@@ricl7413 Yeah, all the innovation is in the online sphere, TV being something of an afterthought now. I must admit TV on demand is one of my favourite 'inventions', though. I watch a lot of UA-cam on the 'big TV' in the living room!
I'm still using Dutch Teletext every day (yes, it still exists), even after I moved abroad many years ago. This time it's an app on my phone, but the service is the same, but easier to use, since you can now use a touch screen and you don't have that waiting time that the old system had.
Yeah, it still exists because it's the sensible option, of course. ;) The phone apps are wonderful, very much in the low data spirit of teletext. You can even view them without graphics as *just the text*... though as a teletext artist, I wouldn't advocate for such things. :D
What an absolutely beautiful and engrossing documentary. Thanks to all involved in its making. Really enjoyed watching it. I was part of the London Teletext Ltd focus group in the early 90s and enjoyed their generous hospitality at Farm Lane on many an occasion. An interesting insight into the workings of a medium which had long fascinated me. Also nice to see a few of my captures of Oracle’s dying days, recorded on my teletext VCR in 1992.
Mr Memorex Man! That must've been awesome to be part of the Teletext focus group... I've been in similar groups but never anything as interesting as a teletext one, sadly. I think the Farm Lane canteen came up a couple of times in the interviews, not sure how it didn't get squeezed in somewhere! Excellent job with the old video tape uploads. Your name is forever etched in my memory, and not just because it's a catchy one. It's also now in the extended credits list, which I couldn't fit in the description. 🤣
@@illarterate that’s really kind of you, Dan. Thank you very much, it’s a real honour to receive a credit on such a piece of work. The canteen at Farm Lane was amazing. I went three or four times before they wound the focus groups up. We would start with a delicious spread of sandwiches, pies, quiches, they put on a different sort of spread every time and even reimbursed me the £10 train fare. I was the youngest of the group, at about 20, and the oldest member would have been about 70. As I recall there might have been about eight of us. I remember discussing fastext as well as the various services. I worked in sales at the time and remember offering them a piece of advice to use questions at the bottom of each page, rather than statements, to generate a little bit of curiosity in the end user to follow the links. It was a really good night out, I used to have loads of letters and correspondence, but I think they’ve been thrown away over the years. I do still have a Teletext branded calculator shaped like a remote control, that they gave away. You may still be able to find it on the old MHP website. Thanks also for your kind compliments about my uploads. Videotape is becoming even more difficult to come by, but I do have three bin bags full of cassettes left to go through, so I’m not done yet! All the best with this and all your other ventures. I love your work.
@@GoodkingMemorex Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot coming from yourself. The Teletext calculator - a novel idea! I wanted to find some Teletext branded items for this video, like mugs or mouse mats. Even pens! However, it appears that most teletext merch for sale is "bootleg" stuff, and Ceefax bootlegs at that! I swear there were loads of those items on eBay a few years ago. Anyway... Regarding the use of questions to advertise links, a great idea. I see people doing that on UA-cam and paired with the right thumbnail it can really work (or it does on me, anyway). It seems these pearls of wisdom carry on into new technologies ad infinitum. So were you one of the people that called into Teletext in those early days? Were the viewer groups advertised on Teletext itself or more of an 'underground' thing?
Thank you ever so much! I just realised you're criminally underrepresented in this version, except for your TV frame being used occasionally. Maybe something for the teletext art version, whenever that might happen...
That was great! Happy memories and very interesting learning about its history. 39:18 Mega-Zine will last for years... Hello to all the 'Ziners out there! What is WLW doing now?
Ahh pants, I should have crowbarred more 'Zine screenshots into this video! 😁 I did put together an article, though... teletextart.co.uk/teletexts-mega-zine-a-not-so-brief-history Do you know of the 'Zine Museum? Maybe some of your letters will be on there?
@@illarterate Wonderful! Thank you! Haha yes, I found myself before on the 'Zine Museum, and cringed at 14yo me's letters! I used to run home from school to see if I'd been printed, and excitedly show my granny when I had :D
@@InfinityOf6 Oh, in the latter days of 'Zine I sent emails to WLW from my Grandad's Telewest cable box... me and my brother would submit ridiculous stuff to make each other laugh, or see what nonsense they would publish! 🤣 I mean yeah, those emails aged like full fat milk, but they served their purpose in the tapestry of time. :P
Thanks for such a brilliant, informative, fun documentary! Lots of fond memories of Teletext!
No problem! We're so glad you enjoyed it. :-)
brilliant documentary well done guys
Cheers, man! Thank you for watching. :)
Absolutely beautiful and informative watch, kinda funny how i could get so emotional for a service that i never got the opportunity to use or knew about til a few months back while watching this, but i guess that tells just how well this was all put together :')
Huge respect to everyone involved! and happy 50th anniversary :D
Yeah, this turned out to be surprisingly poignant. Not something you'd necessarily expect of that quirky news service with the funny graphics! I guess we learned how it was a lot of people's life and livelihood.
Glad you enjoyed, it means a lot to us. Cheers! :)
Loved ceefax. All back when television was actually more interesting. Ceefax/teletext and all those open university programmes through the night. Far more interesting to read and watch than the rubbish thats on now. Clearly far more innovation back in the day, when everything now just feels we are going backwards.
@@ricl7413 Yeah, all the innovation is in the online sphere, TV being something of an afterthought now. I must admit TV on demand is one of my favourite 'inventions', though. I watch a lot of UA-cam on the 'big TV' in the living room!
Teletext will never die! Happy 50th!
No chance of that, I'm preparing for the next 50... 😁
I'm still using Dutch Teletext every day (yes, it still exists), even after I moved abroad many years ago. This time it's an app on my phone, but the service is the same, but easier to use, since you can now use a touch screen and you don't have that waiting time that the old system had.
Yeah, it still exists because it's the sensible option, of course. ;)
The phone apps are wonderful, very much in the low data spirit of teletext. You can even view them without graphics as *just the text*... though as a teletext artist, I wouldn't advocate for such things. :D
What an absolutely beautiful and engrossing documentary. Thanks to all involved in its making. Really enjoyed watching it.
I was part of the London Teletext Ltd focus group in the early 90s and enjoyed their generous hospitality at Farm Lane on many an occasion. An interesting insight into the workings of a medium which had long fascinated me.
Also nice to see a few of my captures of Oracle’s dying days, recorded on my teletext VCR in 1992.
Mr Memorex Man!
That must've been awesome to be part of the Teletext focus group... I've been in similar groups but never anything as interesting as a teletext one, sadly. I think the Farm Lane canteen came up a couple of times in the interviews, not sure how it didn't get squeezed in somewhere!
Excellent job with the old video tape uploads. Your name is forever etched in my memory, and not just because it's a catchy one. It's also now in the extended credits list, which I couldn't fit in the description. 🤣
@@illarterate that’s really kind of you, Dan. Thank you very much, it’s a real honour to receive a credit on such a piece of work.
The canteen at Farm Lane was amazing. I went three or four times before they wound the focus groups up. We would start with a delicious spread of sandwiches, pies, quiches, they put on a different sort of spread every time and even reimbursed me the £10 train fare. I was the youngest of the group, at about 20, and the oldest member would have been about 70. As I recall there might have been about eight of us. I remember discussing fastext as well as the various services.
I worked in sales at the time and remember offering them a piece of advice to use questions at the bottom of each page, rather than statements, to generate a little bit of curiosity in the end user to follow the links. It was a really good night out, I used to have loads of letters and correspondence, but I think they’ve been thrown away over the years. I do still have a Teletext branded calculator shaped like a remote control, that they gave away. You may still be able to find it on the old MHP website.
Thanks also for your kind compliments about my uploads. Videotape is becoming even more difficult to come by, but I do have three bin bags full of cassettes left to go through, so I’m not done yet!
All the best with this and all your other ventures. I love your work.
@@GoodkingMemorex
Aww, thank you so much! That means a lot coming from yourself.
The Teletext calculator - a novel idea! I wanted to find some Teletext branded items for this video, like mugs or mouse mats. Even pens! However, it appears that most teletext merch for sale is "bootleg" stuff, and Ceefax bootlegs at that! I swear there were loads of those items on eBay a few years ago. Anyway...
Regarding the use of questions to advertise links, a great idea. I see people doing that on UA-cam and paired with the right thumbnail it can really work (or it does on me, anyway). It seems these pearls of wisdom carry on into new technologies ad infinitum.
So were you one of the people that called into Teletext in those early days? Were the viewer groups advertised on Teletext itself or more of an 'underground' thing?
Lovely and captivating, even more so with the visual version!
Thank you ever so much!
I just realised you're criminally underrepresented in this version, except for your TV frame being used occasionally. Maybe something for the teletext art version, whenever that might happen...
I've just started watching this. But what a treat so far. This is FANTASTIC. You have a new subscriber.
Aww thanks! But it's @bytehigh who should take the credit, he masterminded the interviews. 😎
www.youtube.com/@bytehigh
ABSOLUTEY LOVE THIS! Well done guys.
Thank you! It was a delight to hear your stories. You're making sure they aren't forgotten!
That was great! Happy memories and very interesting learning about its history. 39:18 Mega-Zine will last for years... Hello to all the 'Ziners out there! What is WLW doing now?
Ahh pants, I should have crowbarred more 'Zine screenshots into this video! 😁
I did put together an article, though... teletextart.co.uk/teletexts-mega-zine-a-not-so-brief-history
Do you know of the 'Zine Museum? Maybe some of your letters will be on there?
@@illarterate Wonderful! Thank you! Haha yes, I found myself before on the 'Zine Museum, and cringed at 14yo me's letters! I used to run home from school to see if I'd been printed, and excitedly show my granny when I had :D
@@InfinityOf6 Oh, in the latter days of 'Zine I sent emails to WLW from my Grandad's Telewest cable box... me and my brother would submit ridiculous stuff to make each other laugh, or see what nonsense they would publish! 🤣
I mean yeah, those emails aged like full fat milk, but they served their purpose in the tapestry of time. :P