Dr. Serhii Zhabin, Dobrov Research Institute of Scientific and Technological Potential and Science History, Kyiv, Ukraine
Thursday, December 7, 2023
5:00 to 6:30 PM
Buchanan D324
Origins of the Soviet computer subculture in 1960s Kyiv: Prototype of Personal Computer “MIR” and the Association of Users “Cybertonia.”
The Laboratory of Calculating Machines in Kyiv that in 1950 built the first Soviet electronic digital computer (MESM), after 1956 continued working as a department of the Mathematical Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences under the direction of V.M. Glushkov (1923-1982). In 1962 it was reorganized into the separate Institute of Cybernetics which in the 1960s developed a pioneering series of computers for personal use (at least for engineers), MIR-1, MIR-2 and MIR 3, with an advanced programming language and friendly user interface. The community of MIR designers created a virtual realm of pranks, music, and intelligent robots, akin to the subculture of early non-aggressive hackers. Kievan cyberneticians developed marketing strategies to promote MIR computers in the USSR and even internationally. They also formed the first All-Union association of computer users reaching out to the Soviet engineering public, as well as to general public at large, despite facing some political backlash for the latter.
