Uploaded February 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
It is the 1990's.... Wall Street and the world of finance are looking for a window into real-time stock exchange feed to drive their flow of information daily...
Before Bloomberg terminals, trading apps, and web-based dashboards, financial institutions received real-time market data through dedicated leased lines, proprietary hardware systems
and satellite feeds.
In the 1990s, Standard & Poor’s distributed stock market data using proprietary terminals like this Comstock unit. These systems were installed inside banks, brokerages, and institutional trading environments long before the internet became the primary delivery method for financial information.
This video explores the external hardware, connections, and markings of the S&P Comstock market data terminal — a largely undocumented piece of pre-internet financial technology.
This ComStock market data terminal is one of those forgotten devices — with almost no surviving public documentation.
A forgotten S&P hardware terminal from the pre-internet era.
Today, almost no manuals, references, or service records remain publicly accessible.
What exactly was this machine — and why has its history quietly faded?
Part II will examine the internal components and system architecture.
This ComStock market data terminal was used by financial institutions to receive real-time S&P data over dedicated lines.
It is the 1990's.... Wall Street and the world of finance are looking for a window into real-time stock exchange feed to drive their flow of information daily...
Before Bloomberg terminals, trading apps, and web-based dashboards, financial institutions received real-time market data through dedicated leased lines, proprietary hardware systems
and satellite feeds.
In the 1990s, Standard & Poor’s distributed stock market data using proprietary terminals like this Comstock unit. These systems were installed inside banks, brokerages, and institutional trading environments long before the internet became the primary delivery method for financial information.
This video explores the external hardware, connections, and markings of the S&P Comstock market data terminal — a largely undocumented piece of pre-internet financial technology.
This ComStock market data terminal is one of those forgotten devices — with almost no surviving public documentation.
A forgotten S&P hardware terminal from the pre-internet era.
Today, almost no manuals, references, or service records remain publicly accessible.
What exactly was this machine — and why has its history quietly faded?
Part II will examine the internal components and system architecture.
This ComStock market data terminal was used by financial institutions to receive real-time S&P data over dedicated lines.
