Re: the early teletype

According to Carlos E.R. <robin_listas@es.invalid>:

Common dial-up services were Telex (Baudot, typically with Teletype
model 32s, although a PPOE used a Siemens machine), and TWX
(Teletypewriter Exchange), which ran ASCII, typically on Teletype
model 33s.

>
I suppose an operator had to type directly at the machine. Or, was there
a method to type at some kind of offline machine, then take over
something, like perforated tape?

Telex calls were charged by the minute and most Telex machines had paper tape
readers and punches, so what one usually did was to type up the message on tape
first, then make the call and run the tape through at full speed.

Some applications were store and forward with switching centers where young
women on roller skates whisked torn tapes from one station to another.

The model 32 and 33 were intended for light service. The much larger and
sturdier models 28 and 35 were used for heavy service.

The Teletype company wasn't very good at making cheap fragile stuff so the model
33 turned out be very reliable, leading to its use as the console of a decade of
minicomputers. I spent a lot of time waiting for paper tapes to chug through the
reader of a model 33 attached to a PDP-8.






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