BBC Micro depth, resolution and memory economy. In the first models, the OS and applications were left with the RAM left over from the display mode. Mode 7 was a Teletext mode, extremely economical on memory and an original requirement due to the BBC's own use of broadcast teletext (Ceefax). It also made the computer useful as a Prestel terminal. The teletext characters were generated on board, for use with monitors and TV sets without a Teletext receiver. Train time displays at UK stations were driven by BBC Master computers in this mode until around the late 1990s. Mode 7 used only
BBC Online the www.bbc.com domain name for $375,000, previously owned by Boston Business Computing, but the price of this purchase was not revealed until 6 years later. As of 2005, "www.bbcnc.org.uk" no longer exists. In 2001, BBC Online was rebranded as BBCi. the website launched on 7 November 2001. The BBCi name was conceived as an umbrella brand for all the BBC's digital interactive services across web, digital teletext, interactive TV and on mobile platforms. The use of letter "i" prefixes and suffixes to denote information technology or interactivity was very much in vogue at this time; according to the BBC, the