Date   : Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:27:35 +0000 (GMT)
From   : hick.bbc@... (gARetH baBB)
Subject: Prestel

I'm pretty much now devoid of stuff to help him (apart from a few printed 
bits and pieces), but I suspect one of you lot may be able to.

I think he's on a tight deadline - 1980 happens on February 6th. I've 
suggested that using BBCs would be easier than real Tandata/Prestel 
terminals, but they're doing a seperate BBC v Spectrum bit so something 
which was around doing Prestel in 1980 is I think what he's really after.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
-Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:12:29 -0800
-To: Gareth Babb <z.facebook@...>
-Subject: Peter Sweasey sent you a message on Facebook...

Hello Mr Babb

You don't know me - but I'm wondering if you're the same Gareth Babb who 
was a regular contributor to Acorn User?

I'm a director working on a new series for BBC Four, Electric Dreams, 
which is a history of technology in the home from 1970 to the present.  
We're stripping a real family's home of all their modern gadgets (with 
their permission, of course) then making them live with equipment from 
different years...

As well as giving modern teenagers early microcomputers (and standing well 
back), we really want to include the story of Prestel, because it's so 
clearly the forerunner of what we do online today... it's just the 
technology (and pricing) weren't quite there yet.  I desperately wanted it 
as a young teenager, but my parents said it would be a waste of money.  
They bought me a Spectrum instead.

What we're trying to do is at the very least source a couple of terminals 
we could borrow (preferably one of the funky little ones that resembled 
the Minitels our friends across the channel used).  On top of that we'd 
like to "emulate" the Prestel experience, ideally to the extent of our 
family being able to interact enough to send a message (not that there'd 
be anywhere to go).  Emulating via a disguised modern machine would be one 
option - the dream though would be to somehow use a Prestel terminal to 
receive video signals and input on screen information (though we realise 
we couldn't then send it anywhere.)

BT, shockingly, don't have any terminals anymore.  The Science Museum has 
one but won't lend it out.  Do you, or do you know of anyone?  Could you 
suggest anything we could do to bring Prestel briefly and gloriously back 
to life?

Any suggestions gratefully received,

All best wishes

Peter Sweasey
peter.sweasey@...
07808 864282
020 7241 9306