Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!boulder!pikes!udenva!ijohnson
From: ijohnson@udenva.cair.du.edu (ILENE JOHNSON )
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Computers in the Eastern Bloc
Message-ID: <11826@udenva.cair.du.edu>
Date: 14 Jun 89 02:40:59 GMT
References: <2717@ndsuvax.UUCP> <3583@viscous.sco.COM> <32926@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Reply-To: ijohnson@udenva.UUCP (Olga from the Volga)
Organization: U of Denver
Lines: 48

In article <32926@bu-cs.BU.EDU> gene@bucsd.bu.edu (Yevgeny Y. Itkis) writes:
>
>I am surprised no one with the fresh direct sources didn't publish a responce
>to this. But the last I heard (pretty recent though not the most direct source)
>even the cheapest PC's run 40-50K roubles and up. Considering that a 200
>roubles/month is a good salary (a *real* big shot may get 500-600, and recent
>grads get usually under 150) you can judge for yourself how prevalent they are
>in an average soviet home. Btw, I think they are not available in stores - only
>in the good old black market. How are things in other Eastern bloc countries I
>don't know.

I hope I'm a direct enough source for anybody here.  I returned from the 
USSR in January after 6 months of working on a computer exhibit.  The 
exhibit talked about life in the USA with computers.  My section of the 
exhibit when to to Magnitagorsk ( in the Urals) Leningrad and Minsk.  

Hardly *anybody* has a personal computer.  The major question at the 
exhibit was "how much does a personal computer cost, can anybody get one. 
"  Other popular questions were "are there any restrictions in owning 
printers" ( as of October its illegal for private citizens in the USSR 
	       to own a printer) and how much to floppy disks cost( in the 
USSR its about 30-50 rubles  or at the offical inflated rate of exchange 
50 - 80 dollars!!!! Another major question at the exhibit was about 
signing on to a network and how this was done - as in signing on to Usenet 
or Compuserve.  The idea that we use the phone lines fascinated them, because 
most people wait 7 years or more for a private telephone!!! I told 
people that I own an older computer, an XT, 40 meg hard disk, 1 disk drive 
for floppy and 640 K RAM.  The cost in Minsk?  90,000 rubles!!! The 
few personal computers I did see in the USSR  were  obtained when the 
owner went abroad and personally carried the computer back.  All the 
computer books I bought were translated from English.  For instance I 
bought a book about C langange  which is a translation of "The C Programmers
Hangbook"  and was originally published by Prentice Hall.  I found 
that they basically have no comprehension how computers are used in 
everyday life in the west(Airline tickets there are still hand written 
exclusively - and a round trip ticket is impossible to buy).  

I spoke to these people without benefit of interpreter (no they didn't 
speak English) and they were particularly frank after a few shots of 
booze!!! I was there 6 1/2 months and am mighty glad to be back 
West!!! 

I probably know more about computers there, but can't recall at this 
time!! Bye for now!


Ilene K. Johnson
ijohnson@udenva