History of computer hardware in the SFRY

The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY) was a socialist country that existed in the second half of the 20th century. Being communist meant that strict technology import rules and regulations shaped the development of computer history in the country, unlike in the Western world. However, since it was a non-aligned country, it had no ties to the Soviet Bloc either. One of the major ideas contributing to the development of any technology in SFRY was the apparent need to be independent of foreign suppliers for spare parts, fueling domestic computer development.

Development

Early computers

Having received training in Paris, engineers of Mihailo Pupin Institute lead by prof. dr. Tihomir Aleksić started a project of designing the first "domestic" computer at the end of 1950s. This was to become a line of CER (Serbian Cifarski Elektronski Računar, Cyrillic ЦЕР - Цифарски Електронски Рачунар - "Digital Electronic Computer"), starting with the model CER-10 in 1960, a primarily vacuum tube-based computer.

By 1964, CER-20 computer was designed and completed as "electronic bookkeeping machine", as the manufacturer recognized increasing need in accounting market. This special-purpose trend continued with the release of CER-22 in 1967, which was intended for "banking" applications.

There were more CER models, such as CER-12, CER-2, and CER-200, but there is currently little information available on them.

Imports

Eventually, the communist party of SFRY allowed foreign computers to be imported under strict conditions. This led to the increasing dominance of foreign mainframes and a continuous reduction of relative market share for domestic products.

Despite this, since the interest in computer technology grew overall, systems built by the Mihailo Pupin Institute (first CER, then TIM lines) and Iskra Delta (e.g. model 800, derivative of PDP-11/34 [http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=54&st=1] ) continued to evolve through the 1970s and even the 1980s.

Early 1980s: Home computer era

Many companies attempted to produce microcomputers similar to 1980s home computers, such as Ivo Lola Ribar Institute's Lola 8, EI's Pecom 32 and 64 [http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=332&st=1] , PEL Varaždin's Galeb (computer) and Orao (*), Ivel Ultra and Ivel Z3, etc. Institute Jožef Stefan in Ljubljana made first 16-bit microcomputer PMP-11 under the leadership of Marijan Miletic, former technical director of Iskra-Delta in 1984. It had 8 MHz DEC T-11 CPU, maximum of 64 kB RAM, 10 MB hard disk, 8 " diskette and two RS-232 ports for VT-100 video terminal and COM. Branko Jevtic modified RT-11 operating system so plenty of DEC-11 applications were available. Some 50 machines were made before IBM AT became widely available. Many factors caused them to fail or not even attempt to enter the home computer market:

* they were prohibitively expensive for individuals (especially when compared to popular foreign ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, etc.)
* lack of entertainment and other software meant they were not appealing to majority of contemporary computer enthusiasts
* they were not available in stores

The end result is that those computers were only used in government institutions that were prohibited from purchasing foreign equipment. Those computer that could have been connected to existing mainframes and used as terminals were more successfully in business environments and others were used as educational tools in schools.

The government tried to control the proliferation of foreign home computers by introducing the cost and memory size limitations for imports. However, many people imported them nevertheless either illegally or by dividing a single computer into pieces that separately fit within prescribed restrictions. Such grey market activity only helped the demise of domestic home computer production.

One computer model managed to stand out - Galaksija. Created by Voja Antonić, the entire build-it-yourself diagrams and instructions were published in the special issue of popular science magazine "Galaksija" called Računari u vašoj kući (Computers in your home) in December 1983. Although initially unavailable for purchase in assembled form, more than 8,000 enthusiasts built the computer. Many more were later mass-produced for use in schools.

Home computers were widely popular in SFRY - so much so that software (otherwise recorded on cassette tapes) was broadcasted by radio stations (e.g. Ventilator 202). Software pirates were common and would freely publish their ads in popular computer magazines of the time, such as Računari, Svet kompjutera, Moj Mikro and Revija za mikroračunala. Cheap (pirated) software lead to essentially every home computer owner being a small "software collector" having hundreds, if not thousands of software titles. This would later cause a mixture of both good and bad effects. Development tools were easy (inexpensive) to obtain resulting in large proliferation of widely recognized computer experts but those same experts were unable to succeed in their own, domestic, market due to the same piracy that allowed them to learn their art so well.

Late 1980s: PC era

The second half of the 1980s saw the rise of popularity of IBM PC compatible and, to a somewhat lesser degree, Amiga and Atari ST computers. Domestic computer hardware manufacturers produced a number of different IBM PC compatibles, such as TIM and Lira but their "success" was limited to government-owned companies that were required to purchase only domestic technology.

The grey market once again allowed foreign technology to become dominant amongst individual buyers and software piracy continued to thrive until the break-up of the country in the 1990s.

Timeline

1960
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases first computer in SFRY - CER-10.

1964
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases CER-20 - "electronic bookkeeping machine"

1966
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases CER-200

1967
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases CER-22 - "computer for banking applications"

1971
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases hybrid computer system HRS-100
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases CER-12
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases CER-203

1979
* Iskradata releases Iskradata 1680

1980
* Ivo Lola Ribar Institute releases industrial programmable logic controller PA512

1983
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases "computer system for real-time generation of images"
* Iskra Delta releases Iskra Delta Partner Z80A-based computer
* Complete build-it-yourself instructions for Galaksija (en. "Galaxy") computer are published in Racunari u vašoj kući magazine.

1984
* Iskra Delta releases Iskra Delta 800 computer derived from Digital PDP-11/34
* Institute Jozef Stefan releases PMP-11 16-bit microcomputer compatible with DEC RT-11 OS
* PEL Varaždin releases Galeb (en. "seagull") computer later to be replaced by Orao

1985
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases "Microprocessor post-office computer" TIM-100
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases application development computer TIM-001
* PEL Varaždin releases Orao (en. "eagle") computer for use in schools
* Galaksija Plus (enhanced version of Galaksija) is released
* Elektronska Industrija Niš releases Pecom 32 and Pecom 64 also for use in schools
* Ivo Lola Ribar Institute announced official release of Lola 8 for this 1985

1986
* Ivo Lola Ribar Institute releases industrial programmable logic controller LPA512

1988
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases 32-bit computer system TIM-600
* Mihajlo Pupin Institute releases HD64180-based TIM-011 computer integrated with green monochrome monitor, for use in schools

ee also

* List of computer systems from SFRY