18-08-89/closure

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18-08-89/closure

This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.

Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.

Tape/disk:	Home » CEEFAX disks » telesoftware17.adl
Filename:	18-08-89/closure
Read OK:	✔
File size:	1FF7 bytes
Load address:	0000
Exec address:	FFFFFFFF

Duplicates

There is 1 duplicate copy of this file in the archive:

CEEFAX disks » telesoftware17.adl » 11-08-89/closure
CEEFAX disks » telesoftware17.adl » 18-08-89/closure

File contents

TELESOFTWARE CLOSURE 

As you are probably aware, the BBC is currently having to
examine every area of its operations with a view to saving
money, or to make better use of existing resources. In the
case of Telesoftware there are additional technical reasons
for its closure.

TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS

Under the present transmission system, Telesoftware adds
about 20 per cent to access time for users of the readable
text service on BBC2. A new teletext transmission system is
being introduced to enable the BBC to expand and enhance the
main CEEFAX service, and the effectiveness of this would be
seriously impaired by the need to devote a disproportionate
amount of computer preparation and transmission capacity to
Telesoftware.

The BBC has also had to consider how most efficiently to
allocate the use of the available VBI (Vertical Blanking
Interval) lines in the television signal between CEEFAX, the
Subtitling service for the hearing-impaired - which the BBC
is also expanding - and the highly successful Data
Broadcasting division of BBC Enterprises. (Incidentally, the
'No Need To Shout' section for the deaf is not affected.)

As capacity is limited, such allocation has to be made on
the basis of providing the most cost effective services to
the maximum number of people. 

TELESOFTWARE AND EDUCATION

Even before the decision about Telesoftware was taken, BBC
Schools Television, who used the service as a means of
distributing programme notes, had decided that after the
next academic year, they would discontinue this method of
distribution because so few schools now use it, and the
duplication of effort required could no longer be justified.

It is appreciated that some schools have also made use of
some of the software programs transmitted by Telesoftware.
But with the exception of the weather satellite image
transmission (q.v.), similar programs - and in many cases
identical programs - are available from other sources.

TIMING OF CLOSURE

When the decision came, on July 24th, one of the factors in
the timing of its implementation was that it would be better
to effect the closure before the next school term started,
thereby avoiding problems that might be created had programs
been started and then left incomplete.

The main consideration, however, was related to the
technical changes needed for the enhancement of the main
CEEFAX services. The first stage of this is tied in with the
launch of a new style of early morning television on BBC1 in
mid-September. Once the decision to end Telesoftware had
been taken, there were considerable savings to be made in
doing it sooner rather than later, since the continuation of
Telesoftware for even a short period beyond September would
have made it necessary to commission - at additional cost -
two versions of the technical and software changes required
for the new CEEFAX service.

TELESOFTWARE IN CONTEXT

It is worth remembering that the BBC Micro was a consequence
of the Computer Literacy Project started by BBC Continuing
Education in the early 80s. That project achieved its aims
and has long since ceased to be active, although support for
the BBC Micro continued. Telesoftware was devised to provide
software support to the BBC Micro in the early days,
particularly in relation to Education programmes. It has
always been a minor adjunct to, and not an integral part of,
the BBC'S commitment to the BBC Microcomputer.

Some statistics might be illuminating.

There are more than 6 million teletext sets in use in UK
homes, with around 20 million people using the service each
week.

The last total (in May) of sales of teletext adaptors showed
that there were just over 31,500 in domestic use. Obviously
some more will have been sold since then - but on the
evidence of figures from one manufacturer, this has been in
the low hundreds, including the IBM card.

At the most generous interpretation of the figures, this is
only about 7% of what might be expected to be the biggest
target audience - owners of BBC Micros. In other words,
after five years, more than 90% of the people for whom the
service was devised have found it neither necessary nor
attractive.

It also means that fewer than 0.2% (0.17%) of teletext users
actually own an adaptor - and at the most generous estimate,
0.5% have access to a teletext adaptor. This, of course,
assumes that all adaptor owners - and their entire families
- actually use it every week.

The department's budget is for the benefit of ALL teletext
users, and the amount required to maintain the Telesoftware
service - about 10% - is seriously disproportionate to the
number of potential users.

SOFTWARE AND THE SATELLITE IMAGE

With the exception of the Meteostat image, the type of
software that has been transmitted by this service is by no
means unique, and the Meteostat service could not, in any
event, have been continued for much longer.

We have been allowed access to it free of charge by the Met
Office, but they have advised us that they have plans to
turn it into a coded service for transmission under licence.
Even if the BBC could afford to subscribe, it is doubtful
that we would be allowed to provide, free of charge to
Telesoftware users, something another organisation wishes to
sell.

That aside, there are several ways (apart from normal
commercial outlets) through which BBC Micro owners can
obtain or swap around information and software - most
notably the kind of magazines and user groups to which
owners of all other micros (who haven't had the advantage of
a free software delivery service) have always had to turn.

In short, the closure of the Telesoftware service in no way
cuts off vital supplies of software, merely one means of
their delivery.

PUBLIC DOMAIN/SHAREWARE

Critics of the quality and sophistication of Telesoftware
programs - and there have been some - have suggested that
the service should include more Public Domain and Shareware
material. Unfortunately, while Public Domain can be freely
exchanged between individuals, there are copyright problemns
which require the BBC to seek permission from each author to
transmit the material - a time-consuming and costly process.
Full time staff would have to be employed to catalogue the
material and check each item for bugs, and ensure that it is
not a pirate copy, for example.

Shareware works on the basis of trust - that those who find
the programs useful, should send a specific amount to the
author. It is impossible for the BBC to monitor who is
taking the material, who is finding it useful, and whether
the recipient is paying the author.

TELETEXT ADAPTORS

It is regretable that those who have recently purchased
teletext adaptors now find that the main reason for that
purchase has gone, and it is appreciated that it is no
consolation to those who acted on some of the more recent
computer press and advertising statements about the future
of Telesoftware that such statements were being made without
the authority of the BBC.

It should also be noted that, contrary to popular myth, most
of the software that has been transmitted over the years,
while free to the Telesoftware user, has had to be purchased
by the BBC. So, apart from those who unfortunately purchased
an adaptor very recently, the vast majority of Telesoftware
users have had more than value for money. It is, after all,
the normal practice for computer user groups to levy at
least an annual subscription to help fund the purchase of
software for the group - and there is usually at least a
nominal charge to members for each piece of software.

It is not out of the question, however, that some form of
software transmission could be developed as a BBC Datacast
subscription service for home micro users, accessible with
existing teletext adaptors.

The continuation of what has been, in effect, a free
software delivery service to a 'user group' representing a
small percentage of enthusiasts for a particular model of
home microcomputer is a luxury which the BBC can no longer
afford.

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00000a60  64 6f 69 6e 67 20 69 74  20 73 6f 6f 6e 65 72 20  |doing it sooner |
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00000ad0  62 65 72 20 77 6f 75 6c  64 0d 0a 68 61 76 65 20  |ber would..have |
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00001fc0  6d 70 75 74 65 72 20 69  73 20 61 20 6c 75 78 75  |mputer is a luxu|
00001fd0  72 79 20 77 68 69 63 68  20 74 68 65 20 42 42 43  |ry which the BBC|
00001fe0  20 63 61 6e 20 6e 6f 20  6c 6f 6e 67 65 72 0d 0a  | can no longer..|
00001ff0  61 66 66 6f 72 64 2e                              |afford.|
00001ff7

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