However, Ceefax has ensured that millions of single, slightly smelly men who still live with their mums are getting no sleep! Not getting much of anything, in fact.
It's just another area of presentation Phil. I don't see why that has to degenerate to an anorak culture. People being interested in how the gaps between programmes are filled be it with Ceefax or whatever is no more cliquey than people being interested in programme presentation surely?
Some interesting points in the last post, and there's no excuse for the kind of abusive or hurtful comments earlier in this chain.
However one thing baffles me. I can understand why some people enjoyed test card or Ceefax music in the era before daytime telly. It was so ubiquitous. You could easily find yourself listening to it by accident before the lunchtime news, when the cricket was rained off or whatever - and whether you liked it or not was just a matter of personal taste. I don't think that admitting to enjoying the music in these days is any "sadder" than being interested in any other aspect of Pres. Nostalgia for it's fair enough too.
But - and I really mean this in a nice way - I can't help but want to feel a wee bit sorry for anyone with the time to get excited about what happens on BBC2 between the end of "normal" programmes and the Learning Zone at ten to two in the morning. It doesn't mean an individual necessarily needs to get a life. It's just that, well, no-one really cares about these things any more. The best that can be said is that it's a link with a bygone era. Ceefax is an outdated medium, the music I've chanced upon is more than mediocre - and I bet whoever's on duty at BBC2 Pres gets a sinking feeling as soon as he realises he'll have to put out Ceefax when he should be tucked up in bed.
There's a lot in modern broadcasting which is worth loving, hating, debating. Is Pages from Ceefax really one of them?
The Ceefax generator broke down on air on Thursday night just after News 24 on One had announced the result of one of the by-elections. Just the header row was showing for a minute or so before they put the old Page 100 while they sorted it out.