FROM ROBOTRON TO POLY-PLAY: COMPUTERS AND VIDEO GAMES IN THE GDR

René Meyer

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Far from being an electronic desert, the GDR built a thriving—if challenged—electronics industry. State-run enterprises like Robotron, Mikroelektronik Erfurt, and Elektronische Bauelemente Teltow employed tens of thousands to produce computers, components, and accessories. As early as 1964, the SED launched a program for machine data processing, and by 1977 emphasized rapid development of microelectronics.

Despite heavy investment and political priority, East German microelectronics lagged years behind the West. Production costs were high, output low, and products rarely competitive internationally. Yet the GDR created an impressive array of calculators, learning computers, consoles, printers, and chess machines. This book by René Meyer documents what was invented, produced, distributed to workplaces, and which devices made it into households—alongside the innovations of a budding grassroots computing scene.

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PUBLICATION DETAILS

LANGUAGE	BINDING	EDITION	ISBN	YEAR	PAGES
German	Paperback		9783360027610	2024	288

OTHER NAMES

From Robotron to Poly-Play: Computers and video games in the GDR

Von Robotron bis Poly-Play: Computer und Videospiele in der DDR

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TAGS

Authors: #RenéMeyer

Publishers: #DasNeueBerlin (Das Neue Berlin)

Languages: #German

Format: #Paperback

Accessibility: N/A

Year: #Year2024

Genres: #GeneralHistory #GlobalPerspective

Companies:

#ElektronischeBauelementeTeltow (Elektronische Bauelemente Teltow)

#MikroelektronikErfurt (Mikroelektronik Erfurt)

#RobotronCompany (Robotron)

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