Viewdata: the evolution of home and business terminals

The paper briefly considers the background to viewdata development during the 1970s. It goes on to discuss a number of aspects of a full terminal which affect, or are affected by, the viewdata system: the display, display control, data controller, user interface, terminating unit, autodialler and auto-identifier, keypage, home terminals and business terminals. The paper continues with possible developments to the basic system such as editing station, foreign languages, security, and high-resolution graphics. Finally, the paper looks to the future and how the viewdata concept can be extended, not only in the home and in the office but in many other fields.