teleprinter

teleprinter

Telegraphic instrument that was used for much of the 20th century to transmit and receive printed messages and data via telephone cables or radio relay systems. Teleprinters (or teletypewriters) became common for commercial use in the 1920s. In 1924 the Teletype Corp. introduced a series of teletypewriters so popular that the name Teletype became synonymous with teleprinters in the U.S. Coding schemes used for teleprinters included a variation of the Baudot code (1920s) and ASCII (1960s). (See Jean-Maurice-Émile Baudot.) With the advent of high-speed data transmission in the 1980s, teleprinters gave way to e-mail and fax.

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A typewriter-like terminal with a keyboard and built-in printer. It can be a desktop or portable unit. Teleprinters were quite common years ago as input terminals for computers, but have given way to the video screen. Teleprinter-like devices are still used in retail applications where receipts are necessary.

The Teleprinter

Teleprinters were widely used starting with the very first computers. They lived well into the 1970s as a computer input device. Any keyboard and printing unit can be called a teleprinter.

Paper Tape on a Teleprinter

Paper tape was widely used on teleprinters to record incoming data. The reel of tape in this picture is on the lower left side of the unit. (Image courtesy of General Electric Company.)