Rest in Pixels, Teletext

Rest in Pixels, Teletext

Checking the squared off map of the UK to see what colour weather was in store for the day ahead, cheating your way through the Bamboozle quiz and waiting for the inevitable flash of Macclesfield Town FC letting in yet another late equaliser. These are my Teletext memories and, undoubtedly, the very things that steered me in the direction of what I am currently calling ‘A Career in the Internet’

As the plug on Teletext is pulled, the easiest direction to point the fickle finger of blame is at the Internet. The super-connected network is eating up every traditional media platform in its path and showing no mercy. Print is on its knees and as the Guardian launches a paid for iPhone application and The Sun releases an innovative television commercial more out of necessity than of frivolity - it is evident that times are indeed changing.

Teletext was a British institution. Steeped in naffness, it came to represent the last ditch attempt to get information and added value out of the standard broadcast of channels One to Four. But as soon as digital became king and the real-time information we all desperately crave was readily available through mobile phones, Teletext quickly became a dated format.

Nostalgia aside, the disconnection of Teletext has vast implications for rural communities that cannot get Freeview or Internet access and have depended on Teletext for information on a daily basis.

As a place of commerce, there was advertising within it, but nothing that could compete with a trackable URL link in an advert online. There were also vast numbers of holidays available through Teletext but - and maybe this is a generational thing - I have yet to come across anyone who actually booked their perfect package holiday through the television.

And so we bid farewell to one of those cosy rituals of yesteryear. Going downstairs, checking Planet Sound for the latest music news, then onto Bamboozle to test my knowledge before catching up on the local news and sport - Teletext had it all. My modern day routine is a much more dynamic affair (and doesn’t require leaving the bed): wake up, check iPhone for email and social networking updates, get the latest news through Google Reader, and so on. I can’t remember the last time I punched in 451 on my remote. Goodbye Bamboozle and to you Teletext, I owe you a lot.

What are your memories of Teletext? Did you ever buy a Teletext holiday?

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