tˈɛlᵻtˌaɪps wɜː kˈɑːmənli jˈuːzd wɪððə lˈɛsɛkspˈɛnsɪv kəmpjˈuːɾɚz fɹʌm dˈɪdʒɪɾəl ɪkwˈɪpmənt kˌɔːɹpɚɹˈeɪʃən dˌiːˌiːsˈiː; ðiːz sˈɪstəmz hædtə jˈuːs wʌt kˈiːz wɜːɹ ɐvˈeɪləbəl, ænd ðˈʌs ðə dˌiːˌiːˈɛl kˈæɹɪktɚ wʌz ɐsˈaɪnd tʊ ᵻɹˈeɪs ðə pɹˈiːviəs kˈæɹɪktɚ.
Teletypes were commonly used with the less-expensive computers from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC); these systems had to use what keys were available, and thus the DEL character was assigned to erase the previous character.