Westrex teletype terminal, Type ASR/KSR33, made by the Westrex Company Limited, London, England, 1960-1980. Complete with stand, paper-tape punch and 80-0-80V to 6-0-6V converter, plus paper tray.

Westrex teletype terminal, Type ASR/KSR33, made by the Westrex Company Limited, London, England, 1960-1980.

Teleprinters were originally designed for office use, to send and receive typed messages between different terminals. They were later adapted for use with early computers, to provide a user interface, sending typed data to the computers, and printing the information received in response. Teletypes such as this were vital to early time-sharing and computer networks. Users accessed the ARPANET, the precursor to the internet, through such terminals. The first emails sent and received over the ARPANET were typed and printed on teletypes.