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Main channel: The Zenith ZT-1 tried to be a low cost gateway to the information age
🕑 Added 2025-07-15 17:57:13 +0000 UTCHello my patrons! Next up on the main channel we have a real curiosity. This is the Zenith ZT-1, which was the proverbial "Web TV" of 1981/1982. This simple device was designed to be an inexpensive way to get you connected to the information age, which means connecting to services like CompuServe over the internal 300 baud modem. Up until that point, you needed a computer to access these services, but this device is basically a terminal with an auto dialing modem (and easy to use menu driven ROM based software to use it) removing the need for a computer.
Many parallels can be drawn from this device to the failed mid 90's device called the Web TV. That was exactly the same thing where you would access the internet and email via a device connected to your TV. (No computer required.)
The ZT-1 is, as expected since it's on my channel, broken. I also lack any and all service documentation for this device, so that ads a whole level of extra complexity to trying to fix it.
Thanks for all your support!
Direct link: https://youtu.be/5VLS-vUDV1I
Comments
Mike C
Not related to this video, but YouTube just suggested me the old 6502 video you made two years ago. Amazing video btw. Then out of curiosity I checked eBay to see if anyone traded a similar chip recently. So early this month a 1976 37th week 6502 was sold for $2,500. Mind blowing. https://ebay.us/m/rEq5yw
Adrian's Digital Basement
Haha wow that's quite the memory. It took all the way until 1994 to get a modem again. I guess he really did get in trouble for those emails he sent back in those early 80s days.
Cliff Fornwalt
Not helpful for troubleshooting, but... My dad had one of these in the early 1980s when he was working for TRW as a defense contractor. Most everything he did was classified, so all he could use it for was unclassified email, or whatever they called email back then. So, like boring HR stuff or meeting planning, or whatever they would send over unclassified channels. He called it his "Zenith Dumb" or his "dumb terminal." Either way, my memory of this as a 6-7 year old was that it was a sacred piece of secret government equipment, and if I touched it there could be a nuclear war and it would be my fault, heheh. All it did for him was get him into trouble because he would reply to messages in the middle of the night and probably sent some ill-conceived messages. He got rid of it and vowed never to have a modem again (we had a c64 with a modem, but he never let us hook it up). We had a couple Macs through about 1994 before he would finally agree to get a modem. I had to pester and beg him "don't let your son become roadkill on VP Gore's 'information superhighway!'" I still have the c64 (which I got working thanks to you) and the modem. No landline to make a call though, hehe.
