Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!snorkelwacker!mit-eddie!uw-beaver!tektronix!psueea!psueea.uucp!kirkenda
From: kirkenda@psueea.uucp (Steve Kirkendall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: ST in USSR
Keywords: USSR
Message-ID: <1828@psueea.UUCP>
Date: 20 Oct 89 18:43:35 GMT
References: <758@utacs.UTA.FI> <595@nadia.UUCP>
Sender: news@psueea.UUCP
Reply-To: kirkenda@jove.cs.pdx.edu (Steve Kirkendall)
Organization: Dept. of Computer Science, Portland State University; Portland OR
Lines: 37

In article <595@nadia.UUCP> peterii@nadia.UUCP (Peter Bechtold) writes:
>In article <758@utacs.UTA.FI> jackin@utacs.UTA.FI (Markku M{enp{{) writes:
>
>>I have just read the article 'Computing in cold' (something like that)
>>in October PCW (Personal Computer World). I have thought of USSR being 
>>a very attractive marketing place for Atari ST. The writer (don't remember
>>his name) told that ATARI (the company) missed a big chance to make ST 
>>de facto in Soviet schools.
>
>I've been twice in the USSR, i talked to many pupils and visited a couple
>of schools, but i didn't meet anyone who had ever worked with a computer
>(even not with a pocket-calculator; some friends of mine sold a few of those
>solar powered credit card sized calculators, each worth a few bucks.
>They got about 60 rubels, that is 90 dollars ! The average salary of a russian
>is 150 rubels ...).
>
>I can't imagine that the USSR would by ANY computers for their schools within
>the next 5 or 10 years.

I saw an article in Newsweek(?) about 8 months ago (?) about the USSR and
microcomputers.  It seems that some Russians are concerned about the growing
"hacker gap" -- Soviet children aren't as computer literate as Western
children.

And, although schools don't have the money to buy computers, there are a *few*
Soviet citizens and groups that can.  In particular, one of the Soviet chess
champs bought a roomful of computers for the use of the children in his
neighborhood.

          >>>> AND THE COMPUTERS HE BOUGHT WERE ATARI STs! <<<<

Also, the Soviets are in the market to buy *thousands* of IBM clones for
their universities.  (A friend of a friend submitted a bid to supply them;
he didn't get the sale, though.)
	-- Steve Kirkendall
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