This is what I would play around with before I had a computer. You could only use it with a certain remote (with coloured buttons) and my folks didn't have one so I couldn't use it at home. It infuriated me knowing it was nevertheless coming across the air. I could only use it at my grandparents' place. I think they were pretty baffled that I wanted to spend so much time clicking around on a gaudy screen, but there were games and live news streams. Also kids shows would announce Ceefax pages at the end of shows so you could get more information. So much like the internet but years before I would have access. QQ.
All you really needed was a "Text" button on your remote. The coloured buttons were for Fastext, a later innovation found on more expensive tellies. You posh nob with your posh grandparents. :)
I'm sad it's going, but I don't think I've looked at it in over twenty years. Do you remember BBC2 announcing "And now, some pages from Ceefax," in the afternoon? My cue to go outside and play...
Oh, and you talk about frustration: our first TV was a giant old brown-cased Grundig. No text, but the remote that came with it had all the buttons! Now that was a slap in the face.
Hah! Fantastic stuff! And of course Your Sinclair is a prime nostalgia trigger all of its own. Do you remember Bamboozle (I think it was on C4 rather than Ceefax.)
Funny to think about how little media we had back then, when today I can pull a slab out of my pocket and access a significant fraction of the world's movies, songs and books instantly. Reckon I had more fun then though, but that might be because I didn't have a hellish job and a family to feed. Ah well.
Cheers for the memories. Better stop now or we'll end up talking about Bagpuss and the bloody Clangers like a pair of students.
My aunt and uncle used to look after me and my sister when we'd finished school before my mum finished work, highlight was group playing Bamboozle. It was awesome, then occasionally the signal would die and it'd ruin your game.
They still did that every night until last night. There's cut-down version of last night's episode at the bottom of this article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20032882
So long, Ceefax