The term telesoftware was coined by W.J.G. Overington who invented the concept in 1974; it literally means “software at a distance” and it often refers to the transmission of programs for a

microprocessor A microprocessor is a computer processor (computing), processor for which the data processing logic and control is included on a single integrated circuit (IC), or a small number of ICs. The microprocessor contains the arithmetic, logic, a ...

home computer Home computers were a class of microcomputers that entered the market in 1977 and became common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a s ...

via broadcast

teletext Teletext, or broadcast teletext, is a standard for displaying text and rudimentary graphics on suitably equipped television sets. Teletext sends data in the broadcast signal, hidden in the invisible vertical blanking interval area at the to ...

, though the use of teletext was just a convenient way to implement the invention, which had been invented as a theoretical broadcasting concept previously. The concept being of producing local interactivity without the need for a return information link to a central computer. The invention arose as spin-off from research on function generators for a hybrid computer system for use in simulation of

heat transfer Heat transfer is a discipline of thermal engineering that concerns the generation, use, conversion, and exchange of thermal energy (heat) between physical systems. Heat transfer is classified into various mechanisms, such as thermal conduction, ...

in food preservation, and thus from outside of the broadcasting research establishments. Software bytes are presented to a terminal as pairs of standard teletext characters, thus utilizing an existing and well-proven broadcasting system.

History

Telesoftware was pioneered in the UK during the 1970s and 1980s, and a paper on the subject was presented by R.H. Vivian (IBA) and W.J.G. Overington at the 1978 International Broadcasting Convention. The world first test broadcast took place on ITV

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

in February 1977, though there was no equipment available to use the software at that time. The broadcast simply produced a display of the encoded software, for a Signetics 2650 microprocessor, on a teletext television. However, the fact that the broadcast took place gave the concept practical credibility of something that was realistically possible for the future. At the 1978 International Broadcasting Convention a demonstration of telesoftware working from a live feed of ITV Oracle teletext was presented on an exhibition stand by Mr Hedger. The Oracle signal being carried within the ITV signal. At one stage the ITV signal was routed via a communication satellite as part of a television demonstration, and the opportunity was used to test telesoftware using that signal that had been routed via the communication satellite, and it worked well. Also, a display maquette, with the title Telesoftware Tennis had been broadcast live for a few minutes on ITV Oracle in November or December 1976. Although that was just during a discussion of the future possibilities for telesoftware, the development in the 21st century of retrieving teletext pages from super-VHS recordings means that if anyone was recording the ITV television broadcast on super-VHS videotape at that time, then that maquette page could potentially be recovered from the tape by teletext archaeologists, as potentially could the broadcasts from 1977 mentioned above and the broadcasts made in 1978 at the time of the International Broadcasting Convention. Such technique has already been used to recover and archive telesoftware broadcasts made in the 1980s by the BBC. During that time, software was broadcast at various times on all of the (then) four terrestrial TV channels. Telesoftware and tutorials were available on Ceefax (

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

teletext service) for the

BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

via its teletext adapter between 1983 and 1989 and was generally transmitted for a period of one week. The BBC Ceefax Telesoftware service was managed by Jeremy Brayshaw. Most of the Telesoftware programming tutorials were written by Gordon Horsington and they, as well as most of the software, are still available from the online Telesoftware archives (see the external links below). Gathering of the software (often referred to as "downloading", though, as there was no uplink request needed nor used, not really "downloading" as such) could take place from Friday evening to the following Thursday evening. As the updating took place on a Friday, it was advised not to attempt to gather the software between 9 am and 7 pm on Fridays. Other channels provided for several other computers via a range of adapters and

set-top box A set-top box (STB), also known as a cable converter box, cable box, receiver, or simply box, and historically television decoder or a converter, is an information appliance device that generally contains a Tuner (radio)#Television, TV tuner inpu ...

es. The same delivery system was also used to deliver satellite weather images from the

Meteosat The Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program. The MTP program was established to ensure the oper ...

satellite for download. Although none of the early telesoftware initiatives survived, many of the techniques are now at the heart of the latest

digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using Digital signal, digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television technology which used analog signals. At the time of its development it was considered an ...

systems. Various archives of BBC Ceefax Telesoftware are preserved on the internet.

References

{{BBC Computer Literacy Project BBC computer literacy projects Computer-related introductions in 1983

History

See also

References