SSI-240 Teletypewriter (TTY)
Donated by Lions Club of Evans Bay (Wellington). A TTY or teletypewriter is an electronic device for text communication over a telephone line, which is designed for use by people who can’t use the telephone. At the time, the TTY was a major technological breakthrough because for the first time Deaf people were able to communicate with other people who were not in the same location. The text message was transmitted live, via a telephone line. Smaller more mobile versions of teletypewriters were soon developed and by the 1980s, Deaf people had sleek versions that they could carry around with them. TTYs have now been superseded by mobile telephones.
In New Zealand, there were TTY Groups set up in the 1970s with the aim to fundraise and distribute TTY devices. The Year of the Disabled in 1981 also fundraised quite a lot of money with some of this going towards distributing teleprinters for the New Zealand Deaf population. A lot of Deaf Club members were involved in the Telethons or in committees during this year.
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