Backspace does not erase in stdout

[Roy Smith]

In article 
<efd4d62a-10ba-427b-a814-ff5ccc07e4bf at h3g2000yqa.googlegroups.com>,
 Rick Johnson <rantingrickjohnson at gmail.com> wrote:

> *Wise Observer Speculates:* Why on earth are we "21st century slaves"
> to an archaic mid 20th century technology that punches holes in paper
> tape? Anyone?

Or to an archaic mid 20th century technology that limited lines to 80 
characters?