Ceefax switched off for good

After an extended development period, Ceefax went live on the BBC on 23 September 1974, displaying 30 pages of information. Over the years, it grew to provide all manner of information to viewers, ranging from news to horse racing and share prices to flight arrivals – all frustratingly available on multiple pages which seemingly took forever to refresh. But it wasn't just on the BBC, ITV also offered a similar service called Oracle. And ITV's offering took a more commercial angle, with a focus on holiday advertising. The clunky graphics – 24 rows and 40 columns – restricted what could be displayed, but some developments allowed for higher resolutions. Telidon, developed by the Canadian Communications Research Centre, was one example, able to support better graphics. The Ceefax service mimicked to a great extent Prestel, the viewdata system developed by the UK Post Office and eventually sold to BT. Both services used the 24 x 40 display format to convey information. Ceefax was a bit like Marmite – you either loved it or hated it. But whether you liked the approach or not, between them, Ceefax, Oracle and Prestel represented the start of electronic publishing.