It was 36 years ago today (12-8-1981)

john · Aug 12, 2018, 16:43:19

Does anyone remember these, first released on August 12 1981.

I used one at work (or at least one of its very early descendants), those were the days!

Clive · Aug 12, 2018, 18:19:13

We had one in the lab at which I worked for BP but I don't recall ever seeing it used. It was just stuck in a corner gathering dust. We also had a very early Apple that suffered the same fate.

Simon · Aug 12, 2018, 20:04:31

I don't think I ever used one. My first foray into computing was using Prestel at the local library, but I've no idea what machine it was on.

Good to see you, John. It's been a while!

Clive · Aug 12, 2018, 20:37:47

I think Prestel was more akin to CEEFAX than a computer but it used the telephone instead of a TV. It used a database containing information about entertainment and sports but it was never the success BT hoped for.

john · Aug 12, 2018, 21:41:44

Quote from: Simon on Aug 12, 2018, 20:04:31
I don't think I ever used one. My first foray into computing was using Prestel at the local library, but I've no idea what machine it was on.

Good to see you, John. It's been a while!

Thanks Simon, I still pop in here on occasions but it's gone a bit quiet lately, at least for some of the topics I'm interested in.

Simon · Aug 12, 2018, 21:42:38

Quote from: Clive on Aug 12, 2018, 20:37:47
I think Prestel was more akin to CEEFAX than a computer but it used the telephone instead of a TV. It used a database containing information about entertainment and sports but it was never the success BT hoped for.

Yes, Prestel was a text based system. The attraction at the time (to me) was that CEEFAX just appeared on the page, whereas Prestel sort of 'typed itself out' like Mission Impossible!

Simon · Aug 12, 2018, 21:43:31

Quote from: john on Aug 12, 2018, 21:41:44
Thanks Simon, I still pop in here on occasions but it's gone a bit quiet lately, at least for some of the topics I'm interested in.

Can't disagree with that, John.

zappaDPJ · Aug 13, 2018, 12:59:16

I remember it well, we were reselling CP/M based computers when it was launched. At that time CP/M had a huge software library available (WordStar, dBase, Visicalc, AutoCAD, Turbo Pascal etc) so we stuck with that platform for a while longer.

MisterW · Aug 15, 2018, 10:18:18

QuoteMy first foray into computing was using Prestel at the local library

Gosh, Prestel , that's a 'blast from the past'!
I was in Tech Support at GEC Computers at the time and the Prestel system was hosted on the GEC 4000 system.
I remember hacking together a Prestel system in the Manchester office to keep the Sales team informed of messages for them. That way they could just glance at a screen in the conference area to see if they needed to actually login to the main system to access messages.