Edison's famous ticker tape machine gets a modern makeover: Web developer invents gadget that prints TWEETS Adam Bautham from Cumbria has made his own version of Thomas Edison's ticker tape machine using old clock parts The 32-year-old web developer has re-purposed the famous invention that transformed the banking sector by connecting it to the internet The Twittertape burns tweets onto special rolls of paper and has attracted attention from steampunks A technophile has put a modern twist on Thomas Edison's famous ticker tape machine - by creating one that prints tweets. Adam Bautham replicated Edison's invention - launched in 1869 to print stocks and shares - by using old clock parts, before putting it to a different use. The 32-year-old from Cumbria, who has long been fascinated by old ticker tape machines, linked his mechanical contraption to the internet and his Twitter feed to print 140-character updates. Adam Bautham replicated Edison's invention - launched in 1869 to print stocks and shares - by using old clock parts, before putting it to a different use Ticker tape was used to transmit stock price information over telegraph lines from 1870 to 1970. It consisted of a paper strip that ran through a machine called a stock ticker (pictured), which printed abbreviated company names as alphabetic symbols followed by numeric stock transaction price and volume information Mr Bautham, a web developer, programmed his deceptively old fashioned-looking machine, called a Twittertape, it to check his Twitter feed every 30 seconds. If the machine detects an update, it prints it out onto ticker tape. The device uses paper similar to a receipt roll in a supermarket till but instead of using ink, it burns the text onto the paper. Mr Bautham built his own version using various materials including clock parts (pictured right) before linking his mechanical contraption to the internet to print his Twitter feed (pictured working left) Mr Bautham spent three months building the Twittertape at home on his kitchen table and hopes to have it commercially produced after receiving many enquiries. The device can link up to any Twitter feed, including those owned by celebrities and companies, so it could print out news headlines for example. American inventor Edison revolutionised communications when he launched his Universal Stock Ticker in 1869. Mr Bautham spent three months building the Twittertape at home on his kitchen table using old clock parts (pictured) and hopes to have it commercially produced after receiving many enquiries Previously, stock prices had been hand-delivered via written or verbal messages but the new contraption allowed updates to be sent long distance via telegraph wiring. Thanks to the speed of the machine's printer, traders and bankers could see stocks and shares information in real time for the first time ever. Mr Bautham, from Carlisle, Cumbria, said: 'The Twittertape is based around an old Edison ticker tape; a machine that printed stock information. I always fancied one myself and just a few years ago I was looking around for one but they were incredibly expensive and hard to find. I thought about making one that prints out Tweets. They are only 140 characters so they would fit quite well, it sounded perfect. Its inventor is fascinated by ticker tape machines from the 1800s and has built a modern version from old parts (pictured) I pitched it to friends and family and they said it sounded like a daft idea, but I decided to build it anyway. He said that the machine has a micro controller and small 'printer' built into its base and links with his Twitter feed. Mr Bautham said: 'I spent three months building it on the kitchen table, so my wife was probably going mad for a while. Because it was built from old clock parts it has taken on a steampunk-style appearance so I have had a lot of people into steampunk message me asking about it. It is a nice design piece that will stand on a desk and balances form and function. It is deceiving because it looks old but it is actually quite modern. A paper strip ran through a machine was called a stock ticker, which printed abbreviated company names followed by numeric stock transaction price and volume information. 1930s brokers are pictured The first stock price ticker system using a telegraphic printer was actually invented by Edward A. Calahan in 1863 Early versions of stock tickers provided the first mechanical means of conveying stock prices over a long distance over telegraph wiring. One of the earliest practical stock ticker machines, the Universal Stock Ticker, was developed by Thomas Edison in 1869 It used alphanumeric characters with a printing speed of approximately one character per second By the 1880s, there were about a thousand stock tickers installed in the offices of New York bankers and brokers. In 1890, members of the exchange agreed to create the New York Quotation Co. in order to buy up all other ticker companies The move was done to provide accuracy of reporting of price and volume activity He estimates the price of a Twittertape machine to be around £150. Stock ticker machines are an ancestor of the modern computer printer as they were one of the first ways of transmitting text over a wire to a printing device. They used the then recent technology of telegraph machines but their output was readable text instead of the dots and dashes of morse code. A special typewriter dedicated for use over telegraph wires was used at the end of the telegraph wire connection, with the ticker machine at the other end. Text typed on the typewriter was displayed on the ticker machine at the opposite end of the connection. They consisted of a paper strip that ran through a machine called a stock ticker, which printed abbreviated company names as alphabetic symbols followed by numeric stock transaction price and volume information. The term 'ticker' came from the sound made by the machine as it printed. The technology only became obsolete in the 1960s, as television and computers were increasingly used to transmit financial information.