Telidon Print Materials Archive

Courtesy of Ingenium: Canada's Museums of Science and Innovation's
Canada Science and Technology Museum Library and Archives

Telidon Archive

Explore print materials related to Telidon's history including photographs, promotional brochures, instruction manuals, and advertisements.
The 1985 era photocopied pamphlet includes a description of Toronto Community Videotex, which reads TCV is a non-profit training and access centre which encourages and facilitates community, cultural and artistic involvement in new media. Membership is $40/year. The pamphlet also includes the rates for member and non-member access to equipment including NORPAK creation terminals ($2/hour), the Apple II ($2/hour), printers, and photocopiers.
A flyer from 1985 promoting Toronto Community Videotex's equipment offerings. Artists were able to access Telidon creation terminals (the Norpak products listed in the pamphlet) for affordable rates, 24 hours a day.
A woman sits in a living room chair holding a remote and looks at a television screen that displays Telidon graphics.
An early Telidon advertisement promotes hardware manufactured by Norpak Ltd.
An image of a woman sitting in a chair looking at a television screen. The word "norpak" appears at the top of the image as well "prouct brief" and "videtex terminal".
The ad explains what equipment is needed for an everyday Canadian to access information via the Telidon system. 
A magazine page features a red telephone from the 1980s with an antenna and a screen where the number buttons would normally be as well as a keyboard plugged into it. A scan of the first page of an article from Byte Magazine about Telidon technology.
In July 1983, the U.S.based computer periodical, BYTE Magazine, dedicated several articles to videotex, expanding on topics that included Telidon and privacy concerns, a Telidon workshop presented by the National Endowment for the Arts, and a historical overview of videotex technology.
The front cover of a magazine features a red telephone from the 1980s with an antenna and a screen where the number buttons would normally be as well as a keyboard plugged into it.
The front cover of the magazine featured a videotex set-up, demonstrating the technology's combination of telephone, television, and keypad components.
An advertisement for the Norpak IPS II features a man sitting at a desk with the two monitors and a drawing tablet.
An advertisement for the Norpak IPS-2, the suite of hardware that was used to create Telidon graphics.
A black and white image of a desk with two monitors on it.
The suite included a desk, two monitors, a decoder, keyboard, processor, tablet, and data systems unit. This suite of equipment was used by artists at InterAccess to create the Telidon works included in this online exhibition.
The front cover of the Telidon Book features an abstract drawing of multiple computer chips with small black human figures standing below them.
The front cover of "The Telidon Book" edited by computer scientist Dr. Ernest Chang and David Godfrey, long-time writing professor at the University of Victoria.
A rectangular electronic box with a blue front.
A Telidon decoder was needed by users to convert incoming signals into a form suitable for visual display. The decoder, which was attached to users' television sets, also converted the in­structions or messages entered by the user into a form suitable for transmission. This image is of a Telidon decoder manufactured by Norpak Ltd.
An advertisement for a piece of Telidon hardware with an image of a box with a screen with a remote attached.
Electrohome was one of the largest suppliers of Telidon terminals, along with Norpak Ltd. and Microtel. The terminal pictured above featured a 13 inch colour display, a built-in decoder, and an optional telephone modem. This particular model was envisioned for use in office settings.
The front cover of a promotional brochure features a television screen with the map of Canada on it and a person holding a remote for the TV.
Northern Telecom (which changed its name to Nortel in 1995) was a major Telidon hardware producer in the early 1980s. This image is part of a promotional brochure advertising Northern Telecom's Telidon User Terminal, which included a box that would be placed under the users' TV set and plugged into the telephone wall jack. It also included a wireless hand-held keypad.
An illustration of a balding man looking at a screen.An illustration of two people sitting in front of a television holding a remote.An illustration of a woman in profile with different articles of clothing drawn inside her head.
These images are of pages from a bilingual promotional Telidon brochure produced by the Government of Canada.
An illustration of a woman sitting in front of a computer monitor.
The illustrated book details Telidon's technical capabilities and forecasts its social impact. It includes celebratory phrases like, "Two-way TV is here!" and "Telidon...represents the latest stage in a worldwide trend towards new and imaginative information services for the home and the office."
An information sheet that pictures the EPS-1 Memory Videotex Terminal, which includes a television monitor and two electronic boxes, which are set on a wood table with a houseplant in the background.
The MK I Telidon Videotex Decoder by Norpak Ltd. first introduced the Canadian public to the variety of data accessible to them, with the purchase of a terminal and keypad that would display text and graphics onto their own home televisions.
An information sheet includes an image of the Norpak MK III Telidon Videotex Decoder, a electronic box with one prominent button, displayed on an illustrated grid.
The MK III Telidon Videotex Decoder by Norpak Ltd. promised a higher quality, lower price (below $1000 Canadian) videotex decoder, compatible with the most prevalent videotex standards in North America.
A promotional image of the EPS-1 Memory Videotex Terminal, which includes a television, a controller and an electronic decoder box. All are pictured on a wood table.
Hemton, a division of Norpak Ltd., was one of three companies that manufactured Telidon hardware in Canada. The EPS-1 Memory Videotex Terminal could store up to 200 pages of information on 64 kilobytes of memory, display NAPLPS graphics, and even connect to a cassette player to create audio-visual presentations.
A scan of a 35mm slide, showing documentation of a gallery exhibition that featured Telidon artworks.A scan of a 35mm slide, showing documentation of a gallery exhibition that featured Telidon artworks.
These images document one of the only gallery exhibitions of Telidon artwork presented in Toronto. Curated by Paul Petro and Geoffrey Shea the exhibition was titled "Art is Communications" and was held in 1985.
A documentation photo of a 1985 exhibition featuring artwork by Paul Petro.
Documentation of "Human Enterprise" an artwork by Paul Petro, exhibited in 1985 at A Space in Toronto. The artwork shown on the left features a portrait of the artist. It is composed of 9 photostats, which have been mounted on a linen material and displayed as a grid. The portrait itself was created using Telidon and was subsequently printed on paper, demonstrating a rare occasion of an artist presenting a Telidon image in physical form. The A Space exhibition also included a television set that displayed an additional Telidon artwork by Petro. If you look closely you will see a Telidon decoder resting on the floor of the gallery. It's attached to the TV and enabled the Telidon image to be displayed.
A black and white photograph of two teenagers standing in front of a television connected to a Telidon system.
A pair of teenagers are photographed using Telidon at Chinguacousy Secondary School in Brampton, Ontario. The image, found in the Peel Art Gallery Achives, was captured in December 1981 and shows the exciting potential Telidon held for education.
A Telidon graphic designed by Don Lindsay that shows a television monitor displaying a graph.A Telidon graphic designed by Don Lindsay of a digital watch.A Telidon graphic by Don Lindsay of a hot dog on a red checkered background.
A collection of Telidon images drawn from 35mm slides authored by Don Lindsay, while working as a designer at Norpak Ltd.
A Telidon graphic designed by Don Lindsay of a woman playing a flute.
This assortment of images was produced according to Lindsay, for commercial, promotional, and personal purposes though were ultimately created in the exploration, development, and promotion of Telidon technology.
Nell Tenhaaf sits at a Telidon creation terminal.
A still from a VHS recording of artist Nell Tenhaaf demonstrating her 1983 Telidon artwork "Us and/or Them".
A. young girl sits in front of a Telidon creation terminal in a room of professionally dressed adults.
In April 1985, a child is photographed holding a stylus at a Telidon creation terminal, as adults look on. Photo courtesy of the Peel Art Gallery Archives.
An image of a Telidon page used in education at Athabasca University.
Documentation of Athabasca University's early adoption of Telidon for distance learning. A Telidon page outlines where Athabasca University-affiliated terminal sites were located throughout Alberta, including in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Peace River. Image courtesy of Thomas A. Edge Archives & Special Collections.
Telidon: Today and Tomorrow BY RIC AMIS AND BILL PERRY INTRODUCTION Think of it in your own terms. The ability to store and retrieve any sort of motion or still visual image or sound - from a payphone as easily as from your home or workplace. Imagine a cable converter that switches from medium to medium as easily as changing stations. It would be the total information management system; publishers, broadcasters and the telephone company all bundled into one hand-held box. All information in all places at all times. The cardinal goal of the Tower of Babel, the operating principle of mass communications. VlDEOTEX: WHAT IS IT? It is a microcomputer that receives a code from a telephone connected to a database and converts the code into a com­posite colour signal (or television picture, or "page"). Presently, these pages consist of simple graphics and text. You can use this microcomputer to store and retrieve visual images on any other computer (micro or mainframe) pro­viding that the other system uses the same code. Therein lies the cause of all the recent excitement- whose code will the world use? TELIDON: WHAT IS IT? Telidon is a code initially developed by the Federal Depart­ment of Communications (DOC) and improved through the collaborative efforts of the DOC and Canadian private in­dustry. This code provides efficient transmissions of visual im­ages over almost any electronic medium, thereby integrating the media into one very good videotex system. So good that it has attracted the interest and support of the international videotex community. This was most recently illustrated in May, J 981 when American Telephone and Telegraph "chose" Telidon as the code for American videotex. 
 ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR ARTISTS AND ENTREPRENEURS 
 The fully integrated communication system is still a futurist scenario. However, the recent success of Telidon has caused an acceleration of videotex development in Canada. Toronto itself has been proclaimed the "videotex showcase of the world". Before the end of 1982 there will be Telidon com­patible micro-computers in most high traffic public loca­tions such as hotels, department stores, tourist attractions, as well as those located in schools, libraries, offices and homes. The question is- who will create the thousands of necessary visual images and texts? Regardless of age, gender, profession, income, demographic distinction or physical ability, anyone can become an "information provider". Just as most anyone is inherently capable of producing short stories, novels, poetry, screenplays or videotapes, anyone can create "infor­mation packages". You don't need lots of specialized equip­ment, people or capital to produce a good application. Quite the contrary, you need ''authorship''. If the DOC had just invented oil and canvas, would only large organizations produce paintings? In this sense, the significance of the new standard is that videotex has been brought out of the corporate/ government electronic data processing research lab environment into the hands of the individual television producer, writer, jour­nalist and other independent cottage-like groups and in­dividuals. These individuals now have a clearly defined tool with which to work and the promise of a widespread user or patron base. Speculate: You have an idea for an information package that you think other people would want to use, read or look at. You take your idea to a Telidon system operator and they ask for a content plan that describes how the package will work, (e.g. the number of pages, frequency of up-dates, subject matter, etc.). You comply and the operator ap­proves the plan and offers to provide technical expertise, ac­cess to the necessary equipment and space for your package on the database- currently - all free of charge. You then spend a couple of weeks writing your package (on paper), then a couple more weeks creating your Telidon pages. Within a month you have a complete package and a few days later it is up and running on the database. Sound interesting? This i.s not the speculative part. This is how it works today at Bell Canada's VISTA field trial or at TVOntario. During the field trial period, they are trying to [continued in next image]
A 1981 article published in Parallelogramme Magazine, penned by Ric Amis and Bill Perry.
provide expertise, equipment and space on their database. You retain all copyright. If another system operator asks for your content, you make whatever arrangement you like. Now comes the speculative part. Suppose that your user statistics indicate that indeed people are using (or reading or playing) your package? Suppose lots of people are doing this and it occurs to you that they would pay for the opportunity to continue doing so? You decide to send a copy of your package, with user statistics, to all Telidon system operators in Canada. Five operators reply with offers to put your package on their system- for a fee- and their users will pay for each page they hit. You set a price that covers the fee and production costs and leaves you ten cents a page. After the first year, your package is hit an average of 10,000 times on each system - 50,000 hits at ten cents a page earns you $5,000 for your original four weeks of work. Also, after the first year, five new systems have started and each wants your package. However, you've decided to pull your package off all the systems and use a $3,000 microcomputer to start your own database. There is nothing unrealistic about this speculative scenario. There are already more than ten Telidon systems in Canada and the United States, all for public users. The revenue per page could be more or less than ten cent , or it might take longer to develop such a popular package. No one really knows. TELIDON AT TRINITY SQUARE VIDEO The essential piece of equipment for any information pro­vider is the page creation facility. Trinity Square Video will be providing community access to an IPS II page creation terminal for a three month experimental period, under it regular access policy. 
 Trinity will be keeping a log to determine public interest in the system. Workshops in page creation and videotex will be available with instructor Bill Perry, and those people who have completed the workshop will be able to book time on the terminal for their own use. 
 While the terminal is at Trinity, a number of applica­tions for it will be explored, including a video/ IPS interface allowing users to record Telidon text and graphics directly onto videotape. The possibility and feasibility of the following services will be pursued: 1. Database space for artists and community access 2. In-house and mobile access receiving units. 3. Reference library. 4. Further training. 5. Improved page creation facilities. PAGE CREATION WORKSHOP Instructor: Bill Perry The object of this workshop is to provide basic training on the Norpak !PS Ii page creation terminal. This is the machine used to produce pages or screenfuls of information and graphics that can be stored on the database for future recall. The workshop provides enough knowledge to allow you to teach yourself the more advanced aspects of "IP­Sology''. The workshop consists of three consecutive evening ses­sions (every Tuesday to Thursday, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.). There will be a workshop fee of $35.00 for the three sessions and enrolment will be limited to three students per session on a first come first served basis. Those people who have completed the workshop will be able to book time on the terminal for their own use. If you would like to take this workshop, or just want more information, please contact Meg Thornton at Trinity Square Video, 595-1332 in Toronto.
The article examines Telidon's potential in the creative sector.