Right it clearly was the best choice for the time the shuttle was developed but just shows how removed from the 1960s and 70s we are today.
My earlier point about payload weight was probably the wrong focus. Mission success and maximizing what the crew can accomplish in orbit are greatly facilitated by one way text from ground control, and doubtlessly paid for the 60 pounds
Astronauts were already used to Telex weather reports as pilots so existing UX. And the crew specialists all had PhDs and thus were experts at reading typed paper. So no training on yet another shuttle subsystem.
The teletype could be effectively shared between crew - just tear off the paper. A portable computer could only be used by one or two people, AND would need to be radiation hardened and aerospace qualified.
