Teletype - Historical Impact

Historical Impact

• The action of sending text to an operating system's standard output is called "printing", from when Teletype machines were used to physically print a program's output.
• For the previous reason, most Unixen associate the operating system's text terminals to the device files /dev/ttyX.
• The programming language BASIC was designed to be written and edited on a low-speed Teletype Model 33. The slow speed of the Teletype Model 33 influenced the user interface of minicomputer operating systems, including UNIX.
• A Teletype Model 33 ASR provided Bill Gates' first computing experience.
• In 1971, Ray Tomlinson chose the @ symbol on his Teletype Model 33 ASR keyboard for use in network email.
• A Teletype Model 33 ASR had a cameo appearance in the 1994 Coen brothers comedy film, the Hudsucker Proxy. Although the film was set in 1958, this teleprinter was not commercially available until 1963.
• The television program Wall Street Week featured a distinctive theme composed by Donald Swartz entitled "TWX in 12 Bars", which featured percussion supplied by a Teletype Model 33 machine.
• The rhythm of the popular song Easier Said Than Done was inspired by the sound of the Teletype machines in the communications office of their post while The Essex were active-duty members of the United States Marine Corps.