Samuel Fedida facts for kids
Samuel Fedida, who received the OBE award, was a British engineer born in Egypt. He lived from 1918 to 2007. He worked for Post Office Telecommunications. There, he was in charge of developing a new system called Viewdata.
Fedida was born in a city called Alexandria in Egypt. He first thought of the idea for Viewdata in 1968. This happened after he read a book about how computers could be used for communication. The very first working version of Viewdata was ready in 1974. By 1977, the system was officially launched in the United Kingdom. Samuel Fedida was honored for his work in 1980. He was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
In 1979, Mr. Fedida and Rex Malik wrote a book together. It was called Viewdata Revolution. This book is listed in the main collection of The British Library.
Contents
Samuel Fedida: A Pioneer in Information Technology
Samuel Fedida was a key person in the early days of getting information to people through screens. His work on Viewdata helped set the stage for how we use the internet today. He imagined a world where people could access information easily from their homes.
What Was Viewdata?
Viewdata was a system that allowed people to look up information on their television sets. It used a regular phone line to connect to a central computer. This was a big step forward for its time. It was one of the first systems to bring digital information directly into people's homes.
How Viewdata Worked
Imagine your TV screen showing pages of text and simple graphics. That's what Viewdata did. You would use a special keypad to choose what information you wanted to see. This could be news, weather, or even a phone directory. It was like a very early version of the internet.
Early Ideas and Development
Samuel Fedida's idea for Viewdata came from thinking about how computers could connect people. He saw the potential for computers to be more than just calculating machines. He wanted them to be tools for communication.
From Idea to Reality
After his initial idea in 1968, it took several years of hard work. The first working model was ready in 1974. This showed that his vision could become real. The system then went through more testing and improvements. Finally, it was introduced to the public in 1977.
Legacy and Impact
Although Viewdata is not used today, it was an important step in technology. It showed that people could get information from a computer using a simple device like a TV. This idea paved the way for later technologies. It helped inspire the development of online services and the internet as we know it.
