What happens to teletext after digital switchover?

Hi folks,

I'm all for progress and new technologies and all that, but over the decades
Teletext has become indispensable.

It is very fast and intuitive. In the mornings I can pull up and browse
through the news headlines in a couple of seconds. Similary TV headlines and
loads of other useful info are just a couple of button pushes away. When I'm
overseas I find the lack of teletext disconcerting

The Digital Text stuff is a bit of a joke. Yes it has embedded video and
pictures, but it is slow and cumbersome and it takes an age to pull up info
that would take a couple of seconds in teletext. It is somewhat like being
forced to use the gui in an O/S with no access to the command line

So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?

--
Peter X-Files fan

"Trust No One®" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I'm all for progress and new technologies and all that, but over the
decades Teletext has become indispensable.

It is very fast and intuitive. In the mornings I can pull up and browse
through the news headlines in a couple of seconds. Similary TV headlines
and loads of other useful info are just a couple of button pushes away.
When I'm overseas I find the lack of teletext disconcerting

The Digital Text stuff is a bit of a joke. Yes it has embedded video and
pictures, but it is slow and cumbersome and it takes an age to pull up
info that would take a couple of seconds in teletext. It is somewhat like
being forced to use the gui in an O/S with no access to the command line


So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?



They call it progress Peter, but there won't be many here
that don't agree with all you say.

The car radios we had 20 years ago with a tuning cap driven
by a manual knob and a piece of string were, if we are honest,
better at finding something to listen to than what we have
now.
--
Graham.

%Profound_observation%

In article , Trust No One® wrote:
So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?

I can't see how it won't. Best to get used to this and find something
else that will do instead - a laptop computer on the coffee table for
instance. Seems to be the way the world is going. Computers can give
you not only info but some TV material, and the quality is getting
better, while the quality of broadcast TV seems to be getting worse.
One day, all our info and entertainment will come through the same
pipeline (copper at first, then fibre) and will all use the same screen
on the wall instead of a separate laptop on the coffee table for info.
Then it will be just like Teletext all over again and you can tell your
grandchildren how much simpler and better it used to be.

Rod.

Trust No One® wrote:

So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?

I looks like it will. Probably I suspect the day they switch off Crystal
Palace (April 2012), despite the fact by then Tyne Tees and Ulster regions
will still have another 4-6 months of analogue to go.


--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

The new machines handle the teletext really fast and much more manageable. I
remember the old days waiting for a 10 pager to get to, say page 5. No,
without a doubt the new is far superior to the old.

--
John the West Ham fan C.E.T.



"Trust No One®" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I'm all for progress and new technologies and all that, but over the
decades Teletext has become indispensable.

It is very fast and intuitive. In the mornings I can pull up and browse
through the news headlines in a couple of seconds. Similary TV headlines
and loads of other useful info are just a couple of button pushes away.
When I'm overseas I find the lack of teletext disconcerting

The Digital Text stuff is a bit of a joke. Yes it has embedded video and
pictures, but it is slow and cumbersome and it takes an age to pull up
info that would take a couple of seconds in teletext. It is somewhat like
being forced to use the gui in an O/S with no access to the command line


So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?

--
Peter X-Files fan

"Graham." wrote in message
...


"Trust No One®" wrote in message
...
Hi folks,

I'm all for progress and new technologies and all that, but over the
decades Teletext has become indispensable.

It is very fast and intuitive. In the mornings I can pull up and browse
through the news headlines in a couple of seconds. Similary TV headlines
and loads of other useful info are just a couple of button pushes away.
When I'm overseas I find the lack of teletext disconcerting

The Digital Text stuff is a bit of a joke. Yes it has embedded video and
pictures, but it is slow and cumbersome and it takes an age to pull up
info that would take a couple of seconds in teletext. It is somewhat like
being forced to use the gui in an O/S with no access to the command line


So will Teletext as we know it die on switchover?



They call it progress Peter, but there won't be many here
that don't agree with all you say.

The car radios we had 20 years ago with a tuning cap driven
by a manual knob and a piece of string were, if we are honest,
better at finding something to listen to than what we have
now.
--


I set the presets on my relatively modern car radio once and it finds the
FM stations anywhere in the UK (that there is a signal) without any
additions fiddling. This has to be an improvement and it is the first radio
that I have had that does this. The downside is that it wont' receive LW
which is a nuisance when I am outside the UK.

What really annoys be about the absence of Teletext on digital in the UK is
that there does not appear to be any fundemental technical reason for
excluding it, as it is avialable on some German channels. The digital
version of Eurosport for example.


--
Michael Chare

housetrained wrote:
The new machines handle the teletext really fast and much more
manageable. I remember the old days waiting for a 10 pager to get to,
say page 5. No, without a doubt the new is far superior to the old.

Modern sets have a large cache and store everything, including sub pages,
though of course there's still a delay for them to appear initially on the
data carousel.

My main gripe is that the new 'Text' services are a triumph of style over
content. It's a bit like converting Usenet to an HTML based system, what's the
point, it wouldn't change the quality of the content, just increase the
bandwidth required to send it.

Also, digital text can't seen to do the things old style can. Live updates
(c.f airport arrival info) and news flashes.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

Yes, that's true. Used mainly for football fixtures, news etc. it's great.

--
John the West Ham fan C.E.T.



"Mark Carver" wrote in message
...
housetrained wrote:
The new machines handle the teletext really fast and much more
manageable. I remember the old days waiting for a 10 pager to get to, say
page 5. No, without a doubt the new is far superior to the old.

Modern sets have a large cache and store everything, including sub pages,
though of course there's still a delay for them to appear initially on the
data carousel.

My main gripe is that the new 'Text' services are a triumph of style over
content. It's a bit like converting Usenet to an HTML based system, what's
the point, it wouldn't change the quality of the content, just increase
the bandwidth required to send it.

Also, digital text can't seen to do the things old style can. Live updates
(c.f airport arrival info) and news flashes.

--
Mark
Please replace invalid and invalid with gmx and net to reply.

In article ,
Graham. wrote:

[Snip]

The car radios we had 20 years ago with a tuning cap driven
by a manual knob and a piece of string were, if we are honest,
better at finding something to listen to than what we have
now.

I don't think that was the radio but rather the programmes.

--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11

In article ,
Michael Chare wrote:

I set the presets on my relatively modern car radio once and it finds
the FM stations anywhere in the UK (that there is a signal) without any
additions fiddling. This has to be an improvement and it is the first
radio that I have had that does this. The downside is that it wont'
receive LW which is a nuisance when I am outside the UK.

are you sure? with some radios, long wave appears on the AM (commonly
thought to mean medium wave) section.



--
From KT24 - in "Leafy Surrey"

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.11