The Unlikely Rise and Collapse of the Bulgarian Computer

If you are interested in this topic and want further information, I highly recommend Victor Petrov's "Balkan Cyberia": mitpress.mit.edu/978026237325...
Links:
- The Asianometry Newsletter: www.asianometry.com
- Patreon: / asianometry
- Threads: www.threads.net/@asianometry
- Twitter: / asianometry

[@GrigPit]

Very accurate info in this excellent video. Thank you Asionometry! From 1972 to 1995, I worked at the Central Computing Institute in Sofia and at the Institute of Technical Cybernetics and Robotics at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. So, I am a participant and witness to the rise and fall of this industry. When Popov used to come to visit us at the workplace, we used to hide the flower pots by the windows because he blamed us that the building was not a flower greenhouse, and we needed to be serious... I mention this to emphasize how many accurate details the author of this video has gathered. (Popov has a “blunt” character). In general if there was a "culprit" for all of this, it was the Soviet Union. It has always been a mystery to me: how could the Soviets send rockets to Venus but couldn't make integrated circuits? They had real high tech knowledge but lagged behind significantly in the domain of the information technology. They expected us - the Bulgarians- to steal Western technologies and transfer them to them ( as a hardware engineer my main task was to copy, reverse engineer, advanced electronic boards). I've been on business trips to Russia, and, for example, I showed them a chip half an inch in size (an analog-to-digital converter) imported from the black market of an Asian country , and from their part the Russians showed me their domestic production - instead of a small chip, a whole box, at least 3 inches... The topic is enormous from my perspective, and I don't want to write any more, but again: kudos to the author of the video - he has captured the most important aspects very well. Thank you! At the request of a young colleague, I made a video in which I talk about my professional life in the computer electronics industry in Bulgaria during the 1970s and 1980s of the 20th century. In this video I speak in Bulgarian. My son added subtitles (CC) available in Bulgarian and other languages. If you are interested, you can watch it at this address: kzbin.info/www/bejne/moDZqWpjhruHmLM 🙂

[@florinconstantin4956]

Hello from Romania Peter, as a young Romanian I was always fascinated by the communist countries electronics industry. In my country I've read it was France that helped very much, they gave us some germanium transistors technology and some computers licenses, from there we developed a little computer manufacturing industry, but nothing like it was in Bulgaria. I always suspected that USSR was using the satellite countries to get access to technology that would never be sold directly to them, It would be very interesting to hear your stories about how things were "borrowed" from the west and assimilated in the eastern block industry. In Romania we had a joke about soviets and their "brilliance" , "first guy - hey, I have constructed this portable phone that fits in my hand, second guy- nice, where is the battery?, first guy, it's half the backpack that I carry on my back. Your "Hora de la Afumati" reminds my of my childhood. Thank you.

[@danielhalachev4714]

@@florinconstantin4956 The intelligence services of the Eastern block were very capable of espionage. I read an interview of a former Bulgarian tech spy. He briefly explained that they had capable attachés and negotiators, who would organize meetings for legal contracts. Then, there also spies, who would record science publications and send them home. Another method was by registering businesses in the West, which would then cooperate with local businesses and steal the technology by acquiring samples, meant for the joint ventures. Then the professional spies also had very good equipment, when all other methods weren't sufficient. He gave an example of a pen, which was actually a container to store liquids, etc.

[@mikes989]

even the cubans, with a lot fewer resources and under US embargo, manage to develop some things that blowed away anything the soviets and some other COMECOM countries had.

[@christopher9727]

Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Holy Spirit Can give you peace guidance and purpose and the Lord will John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@rachkaification]

People from the former socialist block like you and that romanian guy @florinconstantin4956, should organize yourselves in some club, have a webiste or a plafrom of some sort where you should put such stories for others to read, and more! This topic is very interesting and such stories must not go unnoticed or forgotten - excellent material for documentaries. Bulgaria still has enormous potential in math and information technologies. Just to remind you that a world-renowned plugin for 3d rendering originates from small Bulgaria - the VRay rendering engine.

[@Nebehslav]

As a 50 years old programmer from Bulgaria, I confirm the story of the video. I still keep my old monitor in the basement. For sorry, the Pravetz-16 is gone, only its CGA video card is there. And my mother still keeps a working Elka.

[@ilyatsukanov8707]

Finding a Pravetz-16 is my dream. You guys made computers on par with some of the best in the world at the time. Perhaps in some alternative timeline Bulgaria remains a technological powerhouse.

[@leonardmuzaks2000]

Lets not forget how we all call every calculator an elka. I mean it makes sense but its still a neat cultural impact

[@varsam]

@@leonardmuzaks2000 Well calculator is longer than elka. :D

[@Thepokedek]

the guys is saying that he used to have a Pravetz16 but not any more for whatever reason? but his mom still has a working elka

[@lightshadowable]

Everything about the computer is true , but the country has bankrupped 3 times under the rule of Todor Jivkov

[@danielhalachev4714]

As a Bulgarian, who is interested in this topic, I am really impressed by the information you've gathered. There were many things I had never heard about. Overall, you presented in a single video more information than all the Bulgarian pages of Wikipedia on the topic combined. You must have invested immense effort into this video!

[@rossengeorgiew9589]

well, also biased, but let's forgive him, the PRO-America propaganda has no mercy, I am talking from my own experience living there (thanks God, I had enough wise to move away from this so called country). Overally, a very good video. I would also haved added the fact, that the very next day after the borders have been opened the americans came to the factory, and also that the factory collapsed even with firmly signed contracts, which were, do not get surprised, then taken by the americans....No reason to like you, Amis, just like not a big reason to like the russians....

[@contrerwoo]

@@rossengeorgiew9589 ауу, великия той - взел че се фръцнал и си тръгнал. Това ли ти е най-великото постижение в жалкия животец? Дори английски не си научил като хората. Поредният посредствен лузър зад граница, дето се мисли за много умен и успял

[@christopher9727]

Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell Come to Jesus Christ today Jesus Christ is only way to heaven Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today Holy Spirit Can give you peace guidance and purpose and the Lord will John 3:16-21 16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. Mark 1.15 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Hebrews 11:6 6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Jesus

[@lauracole2650]

Could you credit your sources Asianometry? The argument is great but lots is lifted directly from 'Balkan Cyberia' by Victor Petrov .

[@JG27Korny]

This has to be on the Bulgarian TV.

[@HardBaseUnderMySkin]

Zhivkov, as the true tech enthusiast that he was, has a very famous quote on the day of the opening of a new semi-conductor factory: "This year a semi-conductor factory, next year a full conductor factory!"

[@dakata2416]

Based Todor Zhivkov

[@VankoS1200]

Светла му памет на бай Тошо!!!

[@parasitelights3158]

Come on my man, after you've heard of this quote, you know damn well it's a joke. A fact that I think you should mention. Aren't you?

[@west_park7993]

@@parasitelights3158 no, it was not a joke. it was embarassment.

[@user-ed3kf9nr2j]

​@@west_park7993Само за дебили като теб

[@emuevalrandomised9129]

It's sad, I live probably twenty minutes from the Bulgarian border, old enough to have been alive before the collapse of the eastern bloc and yet I had no idea that Bulgaria ever had such an industry or ever heard of it. This is very interesting.

[@ImperativeGames]

We don't talk about things like that, high-tech industries, space programs, social security and equality. Hurts Capitalistic propaganda.

[@arandomfox999]

@@ImperativeGames I think a pertinent observation to make here is that it was the lack of capitalistic freedoms that caused the inevitable downfall, they were working against so many restrictions due to their political structure that they were at a major disadvantage competitively. Stop attributing the work and genius of individuals to their political structure at the time. Communism didn't enable this, this was achieved despite it. Japan soared because they embraced capitalism. America, which I'll remind you is made up of primarily English people soared because of the system they devised(credit actually to the Dutch) after winning their independence from their monarchy based keepers. Even China has a lot of its modern success directly attributable to adopting capitalistic policies of free trade, now that they closed their own economy in their typical totalitarian method they're having a major down turn. However let's not get into the investment markets, that's where I perceive the major flaws of the current capitalistic implementation. Debt and interest can cause a lot of growth but it comes with a lot of consequences, especially compounded. However it's unlikely to change due to simple inertia, lots of people can get quite rich through the current system's setup so it's unlikely to change for the benefit of those lacking political influence. Once again ironically people are turning to communism to recreate the mistakes of the past instead of addressing the causes of the modern problems directly. A major flaw is property investment, it's a bad investment touted as the best investment. The issue is that as the value inflates, the affordability goes down. As that occurs the amount of new innovation and industry that has better financial incentive to start at a more affordable location moves there instead. It's a de-incentivising structure.

[@amrastrasartir8079]

@@ImperativeGames yeah, sure. And that sovietic economic superiority is obvious reason, why we all today live our happy lives in comunist paradise. Where the capitalism is just a fading memory of a distant past...

[@alexmilchev5395]

We actually still have a massive IT industry. It's just that today we develop American apps for the most part. Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon all were partially made here. Our IT sector was one of the earliest to start developing crypto technology and part of the foundation of the infrastructure was made here. And that's just a short list of all of our IT achievements.

[@moracomole8090]

Or maybe because their computer industry died down before anyone gave a shit about computers@@ImperativeGames

[@squeaky_honda]

Every school had access to many Pravetz computers, students were basically studying programming since 1st grade. We had easy access to literature on programming, computer graphics, VLSI chip design. And then suddenly in 1989-1994 everyone that knew anything about semiconductors and software emigrated to the USA, Germany and other countries. Massive sudden brain-drain. Microsoft's Windows kernel is afaik developed by hundreds of those engineers. During those years at least 1 million people emigrated. From 9 million population it suddenly went to 8 million, and it's now 6.4 million. I also emigrated later, since there were almost no jobs in software or hardware design in the entire country.

[@baymarin4456]

"Аз програмирам на 10 години" was my favourite children's book

[@anita.b]

I was born years after the "Change" but I had a neighbour whose daughter was a part of a local Computing center I guess in Varna. She would come visit her mom from West Germany where she immigrated to and showed me Google in 2001 I believe and showed me a great deal of the basics of use cases for our new home computer at the time. My dad was also taught FORTRAN amongst other programming languages in the mid80s for his Naval Engineering degree. Overall even as a kid more than a decade later those waves could still be felt. I personally went to the local high-school of mathematics where we had 4 years of various introductory and intermediate programming classes, finishing with C++ and Scratch(Arduino focused) in grade 12 on top of a very advanced math and physics curriculum. Which in my experience was a very rare case in the more modern Bulgarian education system. Our class had many international math/physics/biology/programming/linguistics gold medalists and representation in the national teams respectively. (Most of the talent of our class has immigrated and I too now reside in the Netherlands)

[@GoingtoHecq]

This is sad. I hope people stay to build their societies. I understand why people have to flee sometimes though.

[@georgeg331]

Even though I was growing up in Greece at the time, I had never realized the actual reason of that mass migration in the 90s that a lot of Bulgarians were talking about back then, until today... A completely different era... Many thanks.

[@moetocafe]

there is work now - come back :) return to the Motherland!

[@albinklein7680]

I grew up in Germany and we had a big electronics store in my city which apparently had good business connections to eastern Europe. Lots of GDR, Romanian, Russian and Bulgarian stuff on the shelves there. I bought a brand new Bulgarian oscilloscope and a Romanian dual 0-30V 5 Amp power supply when I was 15 years old for really cheap. Super heavy boat anchors they are... I am 53 years old and I still have and use them. Great stuff!

[@kondomco]

Nowadays you cannot buy bulgarian osciloscope.

[@pegcity4eva]

That's awesome. Amazing they still work.

[@albinklein7680]

@@pegcity4eva The only thing that failed until now was a resistor and the boost cap in the HV section in the oscilloscope.

[@varsam]

Old school stuf are ment to last, still got 1 refregerator Mraz and tv Veliko Turnovo color and the damn things still work, 40 year latter buyed from my grand parents.

[@michele0076]

Built before planned obsolescence

[@c_y_n_i_c_3822]

girlfriend checking my internet history: he's probably watching p0rn Asianomety: Bulgarian Computers!

[@nichderjeniche]

next video: Bulgarian Computers for watching p0rn

[@bloodaid]

@@nichderjeniche Next history entry: Bulgarian p0rn on Bulgarian Computer

[@stoilstoilov5572]

All said is true. In the beginning of 1970s after finishing MEI - Sofia I start working in a laboratory of Bulgarian Academy of Sciences. My task was to develop and produce electronic machines for testing ferit toroid coils for the memory of the big Bulgarian machine. After that there was a decision of the government that electronic people must be learned very fast in programing and operation systems on big machines. There were organized extraordinary 8 month courses. After finishing one I became a programmer, a specialist in information and network technologies for all my life.

[@nuke___8876]

This is by far the most interesting, obscure tech history video you've ever made. I asked my Bulgarian friend if he knew any of this and he said that his grandpa did something in electronics back in the communist times but he didn't really know the details. When I forwarded him the video, he was absolutely shocked. Apparently, young Bulgarians don't know any of this stuff meaning it never got ingrained in the zeitgeist like coal mining is to West Virginia (which has practically no coal miners) or Detroit and cars.

[@dimimen]

Young Bulgarian here, can confirm. Hell, I even work/study with computers (enough to subscribe here) and I had no idea.

[@p07a]

To show that what seems so big to us now can be a fickle of memory later to the mass

[@anita.b]

I had a very good idea, still informative tho. Most young bulgarians are not fully conscious creatures, would not recommend interacting with them, especially the males.

[@raymondo737]

Born in 84. I have relatively faint memories from the period before the collapse. During the 90s the economy cratered and I have no experience of the "wide access to computers" in the school system that once might have been(as described in the video). Personally my first encounter was in high-school. The school had a "lab" with 486 and another one with Pentium 1 powered ones. Around the same time Internet Cafes started popping up. In 1999 my parents were able to afford to buy me a computer - Pentium 2 based Celeron.

[@moetocafe]

As a Bulgarian 80s kid I remember those times very well. There were Pravetz PCs even in the kindergarden and needless to say I was one of the most eager to play on it :) Those were 8-bit PCs with green only displays. Later, we had Pravetz 16bit PC in the school, it had some colors (I think CGA?), and was considered a big deal back then ,as regular people didn't had access to such, since they were expensive. However, I didn't know that we were making also mainframes, that kinda shocked me. Now, to be honest - Pravetz PCs weren't necessarily something great, they did had issues. I remember, that as a kid, when we have played in the summer on it for more than an hour or two, the monitor started to overheat so much, that the image on the screen was flickering. The solution was to put a cooling fan on the side, then we could resume :)

[@nask0]

Thank you so much for this video I've waited for it so long! You nailed it, as always. Much love from Bulgaria ❤ Fun fact: Todor Zhivkov once famously said on the opening of semiconductors plant: "this year a semiconductor plant, next year for whole condcutors" 😂 (I don't know if it makes sense on English as translation is hard)

[@Mwwwwwwwwe]

😂 it took me 10 seconds to get it..but not because it it translates badly into English,but rather because I need sleep 😜

[@the-quintessenz]

As reliable as a Communist apparatschik can be.

[@jkobain]

Totally makes sense. Or maybe «true conductors», but I'm sure it won't serve as an exact translation.

[@gennadiyleyfman6920]

Don’t worry, I got you! I was born and grew up in the Soviet Union 😅 For those who didn’t understand. In the communist system, at least on paper, you were obligated to accomplish the Communist Party plans at 100% at least! But if, by some inexplicable reason, you didn’t make it 100%, you will surely make it 100% (at least) next year or else… Now, back to the joke. Mr. Zhivkov, seemingly not understanding what the heck he was talking about, said: “This year, we have a SEMI (in his mind, 50%) conductor plant, but the next year we will surely have (FULL, 100%) conductor plant!” Lucky ignorant people, you didn’t live under the commies…

[@aaronhamburg4428]

yeah it kinda makes sense in english but not really, bulgarian for semiconductor translated directly into english will be something like "half conductor"; makes sense someone without much knowledge like Zhivkov can make the mistake and say next year full conductors no more halves :)

[@Carcinogent]

As both my grandfather and father were directly part of this industry, I can confirm your information is spot on and very well researched. Now that I live outside of Bulgaria, my stories that Bulgaria was the silicon valley of it's time are always met with great disbelief, I can send now people to your video. Thank you so much for making this information available to the world! P.s. curious fact: To this day Bulgarians refer to any electronic calculator as ELKA, that includes a good number of young people born 'after the changes,' the same people who have no idea that Bulgaria actually was an electronics force in the world. Thank you again for your work and video.

[@user-mw5hv1lq1e]

Да като със "Веро"-то много хора не знаят че това е било марка.

[@GNMbg]

if it wasnt for the commies Bulgaria would have been a paradise, it was on the right track before the war.... but everything ended when the Soviets came

[@slendydie1267]

yeah I still call them "Elka" and I never knew the power we've had in the industry. I've probably used an actual Elka as a child but i dont remember

[@edgarhofmann7308]

Now I realize why the 9 track computer tape drives we manufactured in Brazil (1987-1992) used magnetic heads from Bulgaria! They were "very similar" to those made in USA by Apollo Magnetics, but cheaper. Of course we could not use them in products designed for the US market, like the IBM 3490 drives!

[@edgarhofmann7308]

In fact it was IBM Model 9348

[@uonko]

The year was 1987. I was second grade in primary school, when I started to go on outside school activity - programing with BASIC on Pravetz personal computer - there were epic times for children at my age in Bulgaria then. Thank you for bringing back that memories!

[@kondomco]

В кръжока по програмиране може би ?

[@uonko]

Не само в кръжока по програмиране. Времената бяха други. Хората бяха различни. Като изключим промивката на ЦК на БКП и КПСС и тая тъпотия с възродителния процес, беше доста забавно поне от детска гледна точка.

[@rachkaification]

I remember it too. Very true.

[@EAvdjieva]

Абсолютно! От детска гледна точка.☺️ Мисля, че и откъм "възрастна", но те трудно си признават грешките. Баща ми никога няма да признае, че когато е скачал по площадите "кой не скача е червен", всъщност, е убиваш една спокойна за дъщеря му България и е участвал в изграждането на една ужасяваща антибългарска за внучката му "българия".

[@miryanateneva-harper4143]

Thank you for this priceless information. As a 45 yo Bulgarian, I’ve always wondered what exactly happened to our computer industry. I learned programming in elementary school using the language LOGO on a Pravets computer. Those were the best days of my life. Then had to immigrate to Argentina in 91 at age 13. Later on studied Architecture using the knowledge programming gave me, and learned a multitude of 3D design software. Thank you Bulgaria 🇧🇬.

[@lachezar_ninov22216]

Да не си бил в УКТЦ-то?

[@Nik930714]

As a Bulgarian I love this video. Both my parents are old school programmers - they started on IBM 360 and 370 mainframes and the first PC I ever had personally (not one that I used at a friend's house) was a Pravetz 82, so I'm well familiar with that history part of our history. Some of the small details are lacking, but overall its a very well researched video. Due to our low salaries, compared to western EU and our fair amount of skilled programmers, we are still well sought after by western companies. I myself am an electronics design engineer/embedded developer and I work for a UK company.

[@totenkopfgrgdfhb1336]

Еми така е всички дето уж сте умни зарязахте родината си да търсите мекото на хляба и в резултат останаха некви 5 милиона от които 2 милиона са цигани и турци, 2 милиона пенсионери и 1 милион българи лумпенизирани от липсата на интелигенция.. през 1990 според пиза 8% от българите са функционално неграмотни, а през 2023 процентът е 54%

[@todorkolev7565]

would you be interested in paid tutoring?

[@semaph0re]

Lots of skilled IT people in Sofia and Bg in general.

[@shroedingercat]

Great overview. I worked with Pravets 16 - an IBM PC XT clone. At that time, around 1990, there were many clones, including at least three Soviet. I can remember Iskra 1030, which was not connector-compatible with IBM PC, and it had Bulgarian-made floppy disk drives. What is interesting about Pravets 16 is that Bulgarians produced something that no other major PC producer cared to do: a data-acquisition and control variant of their PC. Out-of-the-box with ADC, DAC and some control board, all with necessary software. It shows that the Bulgarians tried to find some niche application for their production.

[@highenergyprotons]

Thanks for the great video! The robot arm you mentioned is named "Robko 01". I saw one in the informatics class in my school a long long time ago when I was kid and I was totally amazed by it. It looked sooo cool back then (as if you see a real Terminator robot) and since that momment it was my dream to have my own such robot. A few years ago I was lucky to find one in a local online marketplace and I bought it for 40 BGN (around $20) and it was a dream that came true. The robot was in terrible condition and looked like trash but I was able to reassemble and repair it. The controll board was a complete mystery to me, so I ditched it and used Arduino instead to bring the robot back to life. It looks dated for sure but it has historical value and it is a cute little robot (arm). As I know the design of Robko 01 is a copy of another robot developed in USA, I tnink it name was "Microbot Minimover 5".

[@peterkorek-mv6rs]

Добра работа! Това си е направо за телевизионен репортаж!

[@EAvdjieva]

Чудесно!❤️☺️ Подкрепям за "репортаж"! Би било интересно подобно видео. Особено ако имате снимков или видео материал в какво състояние сте намерили Робко. /Може би разпространено в "социалните мрежи". Фб/телегрм/ дори нашата "мрежата.бг". Имаме и няколко подходящи медии - "обективно" на Гайтанджиева, "критично" на Кардамски, "лентата" на Карбовски и няколко KZbin канали. "Националните" антибългарски тв канали няма да пуснат подобен "репортаж". Точно, както няма да пуснат и ретроспекция на българската компютърна Индустрия. Това е забранена тема и "комунистическа пропаганда".😉 България е фалирала хиляди пъти през социализма. Никаква промишленост не сме имали. Всички заводи са били бутафория. Производството е било калпаво. Никой нищо не е построил! Камо ли пък роботизирана ръка!😉

[@dianmonev3841]

As a Bulgarian i remember so clear about the Pravets 8D, 8A, and 8C which was best. My family could not effort to buy so expensive thing, but my dad worked as a director in the communication systems and i couldn't wait after school to go there and play games such as Load Runner, Mon Patrol, Dimond mine and of course the Snake. It was like a dream. My School friends get jealous and some of them didn't believe me for such an unbelievable story according to them! After came the cutting edge 16bit Pravets and my mind was completely blown away by the color screen some models had. Around 1992-93 opened first computer clubs where all the neighborhood kids Played in extaz green colored games and even on weekends you'd to "book" your 1hour of play previous day.

[@jassenjj]

Wow, what a comprehensive research! Amazingly, for a while Bulgaria managed to be in the top 10 countries for advanced electronics. Ridiculously, in the town of Razlog in Bulgaria there was the factory for magnetic heads used in storage devices. There was an anecdote that in the 70's Japan sent a delegation to get information on how was possible a bunch of "villagers" from a tiny Bulgarian city in the mountains to produce magnetic heads that beat in quality everything that the Japanese industry could deliver at the time.

[@TheodorTheDragonSlayer]

Това не го знаех, благодаря

[@Qwerty-cb1ti]

I used to have a Pravetz 8D in 1986. It was a copy of the french Oric home computer. Thanks to this I learner basic and assembler for the 6502 processor which helped me later when microcotrollers became widely spread.

[@CartoType]

The Oric was British, not French. Not sure why I am saying this because it wasn’t very good, but facts are facts.

[@Qwerty-cb1ti]

@@CartoType you are probably right about that. But it was largely used in France and there were many french firms providing games, such as loriciels etc.

[@SquallSf]

Yes Oric is British. But they sold it to France around 1985 and French developers created many (and some of the best games in French) for Oric, that is why the wrong impression it is French.

[@KeijonAutoVuokra]

Such a tragic story, compared to the absolute state of every other soviet country the Bulgarians really had something.

[@stoyantodorov2133]

Probably why pro-Russian sentiment is still strong here. For most of Eastern Europe communism was bad, but Bulgaria peaked during that time. Then came the 90s, a literal 180 from the good old days. Hyperinflation and brain drain dragged the country back to the 19th century. All industry was practically wiped out.

[@-kr8206]

@@stoyantodorov2133 after the brain drain stopped, the Roma drain started.🤣🙂😂

[@galinageorgieva8554]

@@stoyantodorov2133Thankfully pro-russian bullshit is weak and getting weaker, not fast enough, but it is happening (Young people are against it though, I hope). Most people don't actually know how much better off we would've been without the Russian and Soviet Union hand in our economy

[@GNMbg]

Bulgaria wasnt in the USSR

[@theodorTugendreich]

Harddrives were also made by Robotron Meiningen. 1989 it was state of the art and reliable. I had one still working in 2010 mounted in an Robotron equivalent to the PC XT.

[@microdesigns2000]

I still know a few people who use the term "state of the art".

[@CDP-1802]

Awesome! Was expecting more about Bulgarian made semiconductors though 😢 I’ve had a “CM630” 6502 clone in my Apple II+ for years and it works great. I’ve also bought tubes of gold/ceramic MC6800, MC6821, and MC6850 clones, all prefixed with CMxxx, which all seem to work as well…

[@intel386DX]

Yes there are Bulgarian clones of Motorola's specialised microchips that have CPU RAM and EPROMs in one IC like a micro computer in one chip. I do not remember the Motorola model, but the Bulgarian clone or this chip is called CM650, but without EPROM, only one time progeamable ROM instead (no round window on the chip). Those micro computer chips are used in many Bulgarian devices like Bulgarian keyboards for Praverz 16 with XT/AT jumper inside and N-key rowover, sadly rubber dome, nor mechanical , Bulgarian 5.25" half size floppy drivers that looks like Philips brand , Bulgarian hard drives clones of Seagate, called CM5508/5509 and even some controller cards.

[@PainterVierax]

@@intel386DX The word you're searching is "microcontroller" ;)

[@alexandermishev6897]

The consequences of this huge investment back then can actually be found even today. Thanks to the boom of homemade PCs available in most of the schools and even some homes, huge part of the local kids got extremely exposed to computer science. Learning programming languages was even available for ages as low as 6-7yo (myself). Fast forward to mid 90s and the start of the new century and Bulgaria already had one of the biggest and most competent digital communities in Eastern Europe, especially considering the country side. At this moment one of the biggest or most profitable branches of BG economy is actually software production.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

Yeah but most of this generation emigrated unfortunately

[@rachkaification]

@alexandermishev6897 Very true that.

[@totenkopfgrgdfhb1336]

Ква продукция бе всичките айтита работят на ишлеме за запада.. един пейхоук само има и той не е български, защото го регистрираха в Лондон и си плащат данъците там 😆😆🤣😂

[@dreamystone]

Yup, sometimes it feels like half the population of Sofia works for one international tech giant or another.

[@totenkopfgrgdfhb1336]

@@dreamystone well there is only one major company musala soft, which is bulgarian, but nobody wants to work there, cuz it sucks, cuz its run by bulgarians lol.. :D

[@AlexBoneff]

- Как се казваш? - Елка! - Смяаатай...

[@s.v.berezin1562]

My father and his father are electronic engineers (the latter still works at a small HIC plant in Sofia - a rare survivor). As such, I am notionally aware of our history with electronics, but it's great to see a more detailed history in this digestible format! At my grandfather's workplace, there are two Pravets computers - one of which is in daily use! That said, its role is the very unexciting one of an Ohm meter.

[@fensoxx]

That was a really heartbreaking video. I can imagine that more than a few geeks were created during all those years. And to see it all slip away..

[@gogudelagaze1585]

It's the story of most industries in eastern Europe, really. While much of the heavy industries were not competitive (especially as China opened up in the 90s), there were quite a few niche high tech plants that were often sabotaged by local politicians. For a similarly crazy story, read up about the Romanian synthetic diamond factory. There's a pretty decent article in English about it at a local journalism website called Casa Jurnalistului called "The amusement park within the diamond factory"

[@tbyte007]

More than a few ... you have no idea 😁

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

I’m amazed at the similarities to another Bulgarian company, Balkancar. They were once the largest forklift manufacturer in the world. Once. I used to sell components to forklift manufacturers, and I got to talk to a number of ex-Balkancar folk at Dimex, a company founded after the Warsaw Pact dissolution.

[@jordan9339]

At the time of Warsaw Pact, at least before Gorbachev, in the eastern block the trade was done at some fixed prices and especially ores and oil, gas coal/energies were cheap. This made some enterprises extremely competitive even if the manufacturing is not that competitive and effective. Bulgaria was top 3 fertilizer exporter in the world because of the cheap natural gas. Then it ended with Gorbachev, and it all ended. It ended before that in fact, USSR economy was struggling and he didn't have other choice.

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

@@jordan9339 Oh yeah, I know. I’ve known a number of Eastern European immigrants, and well I’m a nosey sort so I asked.

[@rossengeorgiew9589]

@@jordan9339 ended mended, има не една и две истории на умишлено пречене на предприятия, които са можели да прескочат трапа от раз, и като са се заинатили - блокаж на сметките докато умрат, и после - Виденова Зима и валутен борд и няма къде да мърдате. Не ги забравяйте тия работи. Само истории са това? Лично знам за директора на завода за гуми във Видин, комуто Костов три пъти не е отговорил, след като са идвали три пъти от Мишелин....Къде са видинчани сега? Подкрепят чуждите икономики със жива сила. Но, ще дойде Видовден за всички злосторници и "икономически убийци", предатели и помагачи. И скоро ще е, щото то "свобода или смърт" съвсем скоро ще придобие ама съвсем реален смисъл, имайки предвид демографията, причинена точно от тези подмолни игрички...

[@user-mw5hv1lq1e]

Blkankar was a world leader Bulgartabac too Bulgaria also produced Coca-Cola and Schwep for the entire Eastern bloc. The Coca-Cola logo in Cyrillic is perhaps still a trademark of Bulgaria, it was very successful. The only thing alive today is the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the Bulgarian Kalashnikov is probably the best.

[@waynesworldofsci-tech]

@@user-mw5hv1lq1e Bulgaria was a technological powerhouse in the Warsaw Pact. There’s something in Bulgarian culture that drives engineering creativity. Give them a bit more time to adjust to being in the EU, and look out.

[@robertmitchell87]

The release of this video is like having Christmas and my birthday all at once

[@tdb7992]

What a fascinating story. Things from Eastern Europe seem to exotic to us in Australia. I really wish we had more exposure to that part of the world.

[@anita.b]

Vegemite seems crazy to us too. VB longneck seems very Eastern European friendly. Barby(Barbecue) is a local staple too and people do love forbys(4x4) too. There should be an Eastern European Anzac bloc established!

[@ryballs4569]

@@anita.b a lot of Aussies don't like Vegemite either. You only use very little and it's an acquired taste. There are much better Australian beers than VB, my favourite is Pirate Life

[@DODO-vy6sf]

22:38 STASI is watching you

[@ibfreely8952]

Australia does have a lot of exposure to eastern europe in the form of its ex yugoslavian diaspora. However, unlike Yugoslavia which allowed its people to move abroad during the communist era, countries like bulgaria who were more closely aligned with the ussr kept their borders shut. Nowadays there's more of a bulgarian diaspora in various western countries, but it's several generations late and has comparatively little recognition or political influence.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

Believe me. Most bulgarians didn't know about most of tgis. At least not the back story

[@TheLowstef]

My mom did her diploma thesis for her university degree on digital processing of TV signals. In 1982. I have early childhood memories from the factory she worked in afterwards - they were designing custom computers for the military. Something about control of artillery or something. Maybe an early battlefield management system, I don't know, I was a kid, I just remember how awesome it was they let me climb in the armored vehicle. And the armed guard of the factory would play with me. And, yes, I did start programming on Pravetz 8 computers. Ah, what could've been...

[@charovni]

I am a Bulgarian but this is the most awesome retrospection of the Bulgarian IT industry. I watch and cry. I am 51 now, I was a teenage boy when I played computer games on Pravetz computers at school, had to fight to sit behind one. It was the best of times, really. Thank you for this video, you are a true historian.

[@user-mf5ue6rc5n]

Ти си слуга на БКП нормалните хора нямаха достъп до тези компютри

[@user-mw5hv1lq1e]

@@user-mf5ue6rc5n Аз ше ти кажа че през 1984 един от бъдещите основатели на СДС във моя град имаше Правец 8 Ц ,човека беше още доктор и заклет антикомунис дисидент.Постоянно го търмозеха за някакви синдикални активности ,а той беше единственият, който имаше компютър.Бях детето и ми даваше да играя игри.

[@-kr8206]

@@user-mf5ue6rc5n глупости всички имяха достъп.Аэ съм критичен към много дебили от този пеоиод,имаше ги навсякъде,нещо като кадрите на ДПС и на мутрите.Но факт че България беше на 20 място по развитие във света.Военните зяводи,Стъкларските заводи.Тексим.Балканкар,Булгартабак,Балкантурист Авио компания Балкан,дори днеска икономиката отцелява благодарение на рафинерията във Бургас и АЕЦ Коэлодуй.Без значение “комунисти“ “фашисти",всички трябва да се обеденим и да потърсим одговорност на крадците от последнити тридесет години.Българите които се бореха да не сме “16 република“ не са щастливи че сега приличаме на турска западнала провинция.Няма да има мир докато крадците не влязът във затвора и турската партия е във парламента,после можем да осъдим и идеологията на комунизма.“Европа не ни разбира“ е ще трябва да почнат да ни раэбират,а не да показват каруци и да казват че имаме “интеиесна“ джипси култура.

[@EAvdjieva]

Всички имахме достъп. Особено през втората половина на 80-те, когато индустрията се беше разрастнала. ... И аз си поплаках на това видео. (1979) За мен, особено важно е, че дъщеря ми ще има от къде да научи истината. Тази тема е табу в т.нар. "училища" в България.

[@EAvdjieva]

ПП Както ДОКАЗАХМЕ през последните 34 години, времето на БКП беше чудесно време за България!

[@jkpetrov]

Greetings from Macedonia. As part of Yugoslavia, we were exposed to Western technology, but I've known about Bulgaria's tech and medical science power all along. All the best, our neighbors and friends. It's a shame that the industry did not survive, but then, socialism was good in strategy and bad in tactics business-wise.

[@lenzcliff6298]

Поздрав до Македония, радвам се да видя коментар за нас в който няма омраза.

[@peterfireflylund]

It wasn’t good at strategy either.

[@jkpetrov]

​@@lenzcliff6298 Треба да ги ставиме сите балкански политичари во затвор.

[@dimitar.bogdanov]

@@jkpetrov Не в затвор, а за гробищата са всичките ни политици

[@thedrunkgeek6824]

Makedonija je deo Grcke ne Yugoslavie brate...

[@AlexthunderGnum]

In the late 80-s we had Bulgarian computer named "Пълдин-601" (if I remember correctly). I think, it was similar to ZX-Spectrum based on Z80. I was kind of expecting to hear about it in the story. Great video, by the way, thank you! Thumb up from me.

[@nask0]

You nailed the name, it comes from my hometown Plovdiv in which they was produced

[@intel386DX]

Me too. It was not stolen, but developed from near form scratch based on MOS 6502 if I am not mistaken and even can read IBM DOS compatible file system like FAT12 for floppy drives, but unfortunately the drives never come. (it was developed in the late 1988 so...)

[@encodersofia]

i think it had some success in USSR, but it was not popular here in Bulgaria

[@digi2577]

Pyldin 601 has a CM601 CPU which is a clone of MC6800.

[@AlexthunderGnum]

@@digi2577 I didn't know that. Thank you!

[@nikolaforzane2285]

Great video. Yugoslavia also had a computer. I realize now this whole region got played by west and east great powers.

[@WandererSG]

As it is right now and it seems to me it will be for the foreseeable future...

[@boris_raduloff]

Absolutely incredible video. One thing I would like to add: while hardware development fell off after the coup against Zhivkov and the fall of the PRB, the cultural impact on Bulgaria made from having an abundance of Pravetz computers in schools was already made. Nowadays, software engineer is one of the most desirable jobs for millennials and gen z’s. Sofia has a thriving industry with a lot of great local companies and also offices of big international conglomerates such as VMWare, HP, etc. Some of the richest people in Bulgaria right now are tech entrepreneurs and, in fact, the man who won the mayor’s race for Sofia last month was the founder of one of Bulgarias biggest tech firms. In effect, hardware production couldn’t be continued due to cost and organisational issues but the culture regarding computer literacy and informatics remains strong to this day.

[@mitkoliondar1]

One interesting fact is also the Bulgarian ELECTRONICS that found themselves into space. The USSR space program was supplied by Bulgarian computers and HDDs also space food among others

[@V45194]

I've enjoyed your other "rise and fall" videos but did not expect you to make one about my home country's computer industry, so this was a lovely surprise! As usual, you outline all major developments and the factors that influenced them quite accurately; I'd just add a couple of details. The first one is about the industry's profitability: aside from a few successful sales to the West early on, and a handful of barter deals (e.g. sending computers to the USSR in exchange for Soviet crude oil which could then be refined and re-exported for "hard" capitalist currency) almost all of the industry's revenue was in "non-convertible" currencies which were worthless on the world market and could only be used within the COMECON, with its artificially inflated prices, strict quotas, long waiting lists and permanent shortages. On the other hand, most investment for technology acquisition and manufacturing equipment required Western currencies which were in very short supply. Trying to keep the industry alive - even long before the demise of the COMECON - was one of the main factors for Bulgaria's ballooning foreign debt toward Western creditors throughout the 1980s. Which brings me to my second point: while little Bulgaria certainly was punching above its weight in the field of electronics, this came at a high cost, including the aforementioned massive debt. As was the case across the entire politically controlled planned economy system, for every competent specialist and visionary manager there were dozens of clueless and complacent apparatchiks or even blatant thieves. Many hundreds of millions of dollars were syphoned off by party and industry officials to shady joint venture firms and accounts in places like Austria and Switzerland, supposedly to acquire Western know-how either legally or otherwise, never to be accounted for or seen again. What started as a successful operation soon got bloated by incompetence and graft. And thirdly, for many of Bulgaria's older nostalgics, "our socialist Fatherland's computer genius and industry" has always been one of the top three pieces of "proof" of the previous regime's supposed superiority. (The other two are the fleet size of Balkan Bulgarian Airlines, the People's Republic's flag carrier - as if normal Bulgarians back them were some globe-trotting jet setters, which of course they were not - as well as, oddly, the size of Balkancar, the country's former forklift manufacturer...) Anyway, I have no doubt that many apologists of that backward and corrupt system will once again completely miss the main point (artificially protected industries inevitably become uncompetitive) and will instead jump at the opportunity to mourn the good old days and lambast the West. I for one, did grow up with Pravetz computers in school but, thankfully, my own first computer in the early or mid-1990s was a locally assembled desktop using (indeed!) almost exclusively Taiwanese components; it was cheaper and much more powerful than anything Pravetz had been able to produce.

[@intel386DX]

You was very rich to have a PC in 1990

[@royalwins2030]

I'm glad your country dosent suffer under that system anymore. Best wishes from 🇺🇸

[@intel386DX]

@@royalwins2030 we are suffering from much more cruel system - yours. We are a banana republic, a USA colony without any kind of industry at all.

[@royalwins2030]

@@intel386DX nonsense by every measurable metric you are better off now.

[@intel386DX]

@@royalwins2030 you are better as a colonizer not we, as colony.

[@seanprice7645]

they should have stood up to soviet pressure for Rockwell. that partnership could have thrust Bulgaria to the absolute pinnacle of computation. but their ties to the DOD obviously caused tension. this is the company that produced the XB70, the B1 lancer, the Nike missile systems, a crap load of ICBMs, all sorts of cruise missiles among a plethora of other military contracts. makes sense that the bear felt as if it was being poked with a deal like that.

[@Bialy_1]

Polish got K-202 in 1970 that was faster and cheaper than IBM PC produced 10 years later and Soviets also killed this project... they are good at killing thinks especialy the entrepreneurship. All countries behind Iron curtain was not allowed to be part of the Marshal plan because Soviets said that this countries gonna get nicer tools/help from USSR... As a Polish i can tell you how Soviet "help" was working, German reparations for WW2 to Poland was going via USSR, and Soviet idea of transfering this reparation to Poland was to buy coal from Poland with a special fixed price... the price was set as 10% of the real market value of the coal... so Polish government made the decision that they do not want this "reparations" as it was left without coal or money in the most devastated country... But Soviet were so nice that they were taking that coal for free for few more years after Poland officialy refused the "German reparations".

[@qZbGmYjS4QusYqv5]

Well, countries trying to stand up to Moscow usually got friendly visits from Soviet military. Plus Bulgaria has been heavily dependent on cheap Soviet oil and ores. So, little brothers always did anything Big Brother in Kremlin demanded

[@Anonerak2]

If they stood up to the Soviet Union, which was their main buyer, to where would they export their computers?

[@JCCyC]

That's what global powers do, they strong-arm countries in their areas of influence into not becoming their competitors whenever they can. I'm Brazilian, do I need to go on?

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

The soviets were super dumb. This relationship could have been used for industrial espionage. But being it was brezhnev like stodgy geriatrics in charge they were way too dumb. Zhivkov on the other hand was pretty wily guy

[@krasimirdimov6480]

I am a Bulgarian born in 1974 and I remember the class in math (4th grade) when on every student desk there was an ELKA. Pravetz 82 I used to do some programs in Basic which was built in. Thank you for the efforts creating this video!

[@mohi1732]

This guy has never stopped from impressing us with his immense knowledge about history of the digital and computing revolution that each country had played a role in. Personally, Despite my vast knowledge on this subject, I have never stopped from exploring new interesting knowledge on this amazing channel 🙂😀🙂

[@myaramov]

I see no knowledge of history here, sorry. All said between 2:00 and 2:36 is a lie.

[@mohi1732]

@@myaramov thanks for your reply, the channel is all about analysis of economic policies of different countries and how these policies have shaped both negatively or positively these countries after analysing the historical timeline of these policies. The most economic aspect emphasised on in these policies is the computing and semiconductor industries, how some countries have immerged as winners, like Taiwan, South Korea, US and to some extent Japan. and how some have failed in gaining a foothold in this competitive industry.

[@Cornel1001]

Some details are so accurate, some info presented here.... Who made the background story ? The core ?

[@mohi1732]

@@Cornel1001 though I have not quite understood your point, your question should be asked to John, the channel owner. You'd better ask him by email after signing to his news letter. After exploring too many prominent and similar KZbin channels like visual economics, economics explained.... what makes this channel content exclusive or different from the rest is John immense knowledge about specific economic policies about a specific economic sector in a specific country, which you won't find on any other channel, after my experience of exploring many different similar channels.

[@lauracole2650]

@@Cornel1001 "Balkan Cyberia" by Victor Petrov, it's where this video has lifted most of its key points...though it is not cited.

[@user-cr3jv8se1u]

I saw a Bulgarian plotter at a trade show in Kiev in the early 1990s. While it was not as slick as some of the HP models, it was very impressive. It was something not unlike a miniature Calcomp.

[@nikolaikotov646]

Аз съм работил в завода където се произвеждаха плотери ! В град Габрово! Завода още съществува и произвежда датчици и електржнни компоненти

[@Qwerty-cb1ti]

Very good overview, and in great detail. Bravo! Actually Zhivkov was an uneducated paysant but a very sly one. He is very well characterized by what he once said before the cameras at an opening of one of the electronics plants: We are setting up a plant for semiconductors this year and next year we will set up a plant for wholeconductors.

[@intel386DX]

And he was totally right about that, today Bulgaria produces only wiers 😂😅

[@encodersofia]

@@intel386DX Nope, we have good industry, in fact far better than before 1989, but the commie nostalgics are unable to comprehend

[@antonimihailov8046]

This was a made-up joke. He never said that.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

I would use the words cunning or street smart. Not "sly". That has negative connotation. He woukd have made a great businessman in another life and setting

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

Btw that joke is apocryphal. It never hapoened

[@muratduman3319]

This is a GEM !! Although I was not interested with the topic, I listened every sentence eagerly !

[@XykcTepa]

Greetings from Bulgaria! I have never expected to see the name of my city and pictures from it on this channel! By the way - there was an attempt to revive "Pravetz" as a computer brand in a laptop form just a few years ago. The laptops used 7th and 8th gen Intel U series CPUs, with a promise for a 5 year warranty and a "Pravetz OS". Sales didn't go well and the project is all but dead. The OS was also never finished.

[@Blitzko4a]

Awesome video! I actually have a couple of stories - I had a colleague at my previous job, who told me a few interesting things that were happening in Botevgrad and Pravetz. My colleague studied at the Pravetz high school specializing in computer sciences. He told me it was infamously tough to be accepted at that high school, because they accepted a limited number of people from all of Bulgaria's 28 administrative areas. The idea was that there was a quota for boys & girls, for example X number of boys and Y number of girls were accepted from each administrative area and upon graduating they were sent back to the area they lived to work in different factories that were associated with computer manufacturing in one way or the other. The idea was for these specialists to be equally distributed in Bulgaria and no area was to be left behind. In around 1988 my colleague, then a 17-18 y/o in his last year of high school landed an internship position at one of the factories either in Pravetz or Botevgrad, I don't remember exactly. He told me at that time the factory manufactured keyboards and each month a ship container full of bulgarian keyboards were exported to Japan. The reason was that BG keyboards were bigger, used a lot of materials, and were fairly cheap and the japanese disassembled the keyboards and actually managed to use to the parts to make a larger number of japanese keyboards . Imagine 2 bulgarian keyboards turning into 3 japanese ones :D. The other story he told me that some management people in the factories were sick of paying their western business partners X amount of dollars for BIOS, so they decided to make a Bulgarian BIOS. They did that by reverse engineering - they managed to get their hands on some BIOS source code and employed 4 programmers. The first guys was the only one who could look and read the BIOS source code. His job was to read, interpret and retell the source code and what it did (like you retell a story) to the other 3 guys who were working separately. By doing this all 3 guys had their own interpretation and wrote 3 unique BIOS source codes which still kept the original logic. Needless to say they started using Bulgarian BIOS from that point onward. Again, awesome video, keep up the good work!

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

Doubt they ever got a hold of bios source code. That would be close source and only way to do was industrial espionage. They likely disassembled and read it in and made sense of it in assembly language (which is a gargantuan task)

[@Blitzko4a]

@@thatisme3thatisme38Probably, but as I said, that was the story that was told to me, I cannot guarantee everything said is true.

[@SianaGearz]

These both stories sound like myths. One is that Japanese labour is expensive while materials are cheap; so disassembling keyboards wouldn't have been profitable. Disassembling is actually more effort than assembling. The problem with the other one is that it describes Clean Room re-engineering which is a way around copyright... but Bulgaria did not allow enforcement of international copyright on its territory until 1996, nor did any communist country in the 70s and 80s! So there was no point doing that, you could just steal the BIOS as-is. And if you have business partners that demand you buy their BIOS or they won't ship you something else that you need, then you can't weasel yourself out of that application via Cleanroom.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

@@SianaGearz def myth about keyboards. The bios source code story code be true tho and it's not about copyright

[@ncuxap12444]

Probably this has something to do with the fact that today the tech sector in Bulgaria is disproportionally well developed compared to the rest of the economy. By the way, thank you for the great information and presentation in this video, as a bulgarian I feel proud that we used to have forward thinkers back then and we reap the benefits of their work. I think every bulgarian should be familiar with this history and be proud, this is our past and can still be our future.

[@galinageorgieva8554]

Yeah, but it's mostly software development

[@GNMbg]

this is where the profit is currently, thats why. @@galinageorgieva8554

[@k915]

You're one of my favorite channels man, never thought you'd do a video of our own domestic computer production! Thank you!

[@dokov]

My first PC ever was Pravetz 8C with 64kbytes of memory and two 5,25 inch drives; enough to get me started :) Thank you for this video!

[@user-jp7tw3sd3x]

Actually Pravetz8C had 128KB of memory. Iirc, it was an analog of Apple//e. It also had doubled resolution mode (80x24 text and 560x192 pixel mode) using the extra ram.

[@vesselinkrastev]

Fun fact. The word "elka" is still in use as a common noun meaning "calculator". I was not aware that it's derived from the model name of a specific product. Kinda like kleenex.

[@udififkfkfck]

ELektronik KAlkulator El Ka

[@galinageorgieva8554]

You must be very young, child

[@FerranCasarramona]

Nowadays, Bulgaria has the popular IoT device manufacturer Shelly.

[@MilenHristov]

also Olimex

[@Divine_Evil]

Fun fact: Elka is a synonym for calculator in Bulgarian... Way faster to ask for the elka, that calculator, while in school.

[@intel386DX]

I hate those synonyms 😂 They are many brand words like it, for example : Xirox - for copy machine Vero - solution for washing dishes Yonica - for syntesator Multiced - for multimeter Jeep - for SUV There are much more, but do not remember them (I have white them down) 😅

[@beadsman13]

Как се казваш? -Елка. Смяятай.

[@Heyga4Huk]

It literally means ELectronic CAlculator

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

​@@beadsman13hahaha. The auto translate doesn't work - what is your name? - Elka - well then calculate

[@JustAnAdjunct]

@@thatisme3thatisme38Elka could be interpreted as a female name. Смятай does mean calculate if translated literally, but it has another meaning. It can be used to express astonishment, similar to the english phrase "what are the odds of that". The joke is basically: wow lady, what are the odds that you were named after a calculator?

[@b0rnT00Slow]

As a once Pravetz user - thank you! You're the man. It was well researched, which I imagine was not easy at all.

[@BogdanKatansky]

Благодаря за видеото! ❤

[@videorighteousgames9276]

I've been waiting for a video on the Bulgarian computer industry.

[@SonicBoone56]

I would've never known about any of this if not for your videos. Trying to find any information at all about these countries' computer industries is borderline impossible I swear. There's no English Wikipedia page about Ivan Popov or even Vitosha.

[@nothere4089]

well, this is niche history, a kind that never made it to the west. you would have more luck reading on academic texts. that or using google translate, then heading over to yandex a scouring the RFNet. i found many of the same frustrations when researching on soviet cybernetics and informatics.

[@peterkorek-mv6rs]

There are many sources in KZbin (allthough in Bulgarian) but this video is informative enough. If You want more info You have to read in Bulgarian or at leasr Russian.

[@Zagorka007]

I started programming back in 1884 age of 7 in one of the clubs at school. Great times!

[@jassenjj]

Sure about the century?

[@pyrobg]

just FYI, there is a typo at 12:25 - its Botevgrad , not Botvegrad. Outstanding video!

[@DVavov]

Hard to believe how compact and to the point this Rise and Collapse video is! Congratulations Asianometry - what a research! I was fascinated by your story. Allow me please to point to a detail, which can be found wrong on the web. IMKO-1 has nothing to do with Apple - it was a not fully equipped CP/M computer based on Intel 8080. Those first 50 pieces, as well as the first 200 of the IMKO-2, were all built at the ITKR institute. Then production successfully moved to Pravetz. Unexpectedly the sky became bluer for many bright young Bulgarians! Those were exciting personal computer years for tiny Bulgaria.

[@johnathanclayton2887]

I'm stunned how many great quality videos you're able to crack out! This video quality I usually see channels do once a week or once a month! I'm loving it, but don't burn yourself out.

[@savasolarov8424]

As a Bulgarian, I appreciate your channel's attention to the topic.

[@danielhalachev4714]

Western Europe right now is making the same mistake Eastern Europe did in the 1990s. Exporting production overseas or outright deindustrialisation minimize losses and make good profit margins, but result in inevitable loss of expertise. Knowledge how to build stuff and use it is the most valuable asset of a developed nation.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

That's already done actually. Only Netherlands has some unique ci.pinents produced at home

[@kostadinivanov8064]

This is not exactly correct, because then again - why are most people going to western universities to educate themselves and then go in the workforce?

[@zarni000]

@@kostadinivanov8064 it is exactly corret. they go into mostly service economy. not manufacturing

[@kostadinivanov8064]

The economy will stagnate and the end-client (you) won't be able to afford shit, because the expenses will be through the roof and will drive the prices to the sky. I am not an economist - this is not that hard to comprehend, no?@@zarni000

[@Erok9]

Finally. He read my emails!

[@Drunken_Master]

I always taught Elka was a Soviet brand. In former Yugoslavia there was a company in Slovenia named Digitron which produced calculators, so even today, the generic name for all calculators is digitron.

[@beadsman13]

As you said for us bulgarians calculator and ELKA means the same thing.

[@-kr8206]

All the electronics and high-tech machines were Bulgarian. Even the industrial robots. The USSR just exported oil and gas and built the Bulgarian nuclear power plant.

[@justasjagminas1362]

Excellent video. I hope that you cover Lithuania's laser industry some day. Unlike those stories of typical Rise and Fall videos, however, it actually started going strong after the collapse of USSR.

[@Saruman1000]

This was incredible... Thank you for putting this information together.

[@gd3824]

As a bulgarian i would like to say big thanks for this video .

[@erenoz2910]

Turkish guy here, I've lived a few hours from the border for most of my life. I had no idea that Bulgaria ever had an electronics industry, nor have I ever seen a computer made in Bulgaria.

[@contrerwoo]

i don't think they were ever exported to turkey

[@-kr8206]

Perhaps, you have no idea that Bulgaria has a nuclear power plant and a man in space (space program), one of the first in the world.

[@dimitarnikolov748]

I see DZU factory from my balcony, its 200m in front of me. Still working and now is owned by Videoton. Producing Osram, Philips items, also mainboards, paps and other microelectronics. My wife work there :) super fun to see this video. Stara Zagora center of Bulgarian microelectronics!

[@TheOriginalEviltech]

Thank you for making this video! The research and presentation you did on it was exemplary!

[@BlaBla-pf8mf]

Among the Eastern Block family Bulgaria was Soviet Union's favorite child. I wouldn't be surprised if some of those Comecon deals were deliberately made very profitable for Bulgaria. It's interesting that Bulgaria cloned Apple ][ which was a higher end 8 bit PC, most other communist countries cloned the cheapest one, ZX Spectrum.

[@blitzerblazinoah6838]

There isn't much difference between an Apple II and ZX Spectrum other than build quality (Apple was better).

[@intel386DX]

Bulgaria cloned even much more expensive 16 bit x86 IBM PC. Praverz 16, IZOT and the most obscure x86 clone the first in the world with tower case called MIK 16 :)

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

​​​​@@blitzerblazinoah6838I'd disagree it was made better. It was more bulky for sure. The Sinclair was cheaper largely because it was more compact and used cheaper component variants. Apple needed to source Motorola chips while Sinclair used a genetic z80. Overall the Sinclair was about as capable as the apple option but cheaper. It also had a ton more software than apple had at the time

[@SianaGearz]

Timeline. Apple 2 is one of the first personal computers. Eastern bloc ZX Spectrum clones weren't really a thing until 1988 or so, way after Bulgaria chose to enter personal computers. But of course others made their entrance with teletype based CP/M business machines instead, based around 8080 or z80 clones, way before ZX Spectrum clones.

[@r_rumenov]

Wow, I can't believe this video actually got made! Thanks from Bulgaria 🇧🇬

[@tomholroyd7519]

Wow this totally explains the Bulgarian post-doc I met in Japan

[@slowtraveler]

Thanks for video Asionometry!!! My first touch of computers was exactly Pravetz-82 in December'1982 in our school.. Very acurate and deep research... THANKS! In our school we also have ELKA with vacuum tubes as display and so on... My college dyplom work was on punched-cards, run on ES computer :) Good memories :)

[@gregskuza7166]

Very interesting! Great job putting it together!

[@EannaButler]

The Elka Synthex - part of the cross-pollination of Bulgarian semiconductor technology and Italian design prowess? Would love to see you do a "musical keyboard synth" crossover, with things like the Polyvolks, and now you drop the Elka Italian bomb? Would be a great video, I think...

[@TimmyInTarky]

Great video! I have a comment about 1:50. I don't think we had much of a choice. As far as I know, Germany had a sizable (tank) force on the border with Romania so big we wouldn't be able to stop it, along with an ultimatum to join them and them basically use us as a base. And while on the Axis side, we did not do any first engagement with any other country and tried to maintain neutrality.

[@MsEllyss]

Great video Asianomtry! Thanks! Of all this, the school for programmers in Pravets, where my child studies, remained. I walk past the ruins of the computer factory almost every day and it hurts my heart.

[@TheDavidlloydjones]

Superb article. Well done and thank you!

[@BenjaminMaggi]

Very enlightening, great documentary, soviet computing history is amazing, the material was very well put together, well edited and the reaserch is top noch ! Thank you

[@aei7129]

We had Pravets-8A computers in our school classroom. This was in 1997, somewhere in the early 2000s they were replaced by Pentium. When I grew up, I was surprised to learn that these Bulgarian computers were assembled in Tashkent at the Foton plant. As a child, I rode the bus to a professional swimming lesson in the Olympic pool right next to this plant. More precisely, a former factory. In the 90s he went bankrupt.

[@intel386DX]

Thanks for the great documentary! Greeteengs form Bulgaria! You did not mention Praverz 16 IBM PC clone :) And Puldin 601 a original Bulgarian project not stolen from anyone based around MOS 6502 CPU And 2 more very innovative achievements Rhe first power case PC called MIK 16, again x86 based IBM clone and ISOT x86 based clone but with first in the industry patented memory manahmend developed in house.

[@shroedingercat]

Pravets 16 appears on one of the slides.

[@apinakapina]

Had heard something of the Bulgarian computer industry, but most of this was new to me. Thanks for the excellent video!

[@the-quintessenz]

You can insert into that title almost anything. Example: "The Unlikely Rise and Collapse of the Bulgarian Football National Team"

[@b0rnT00Slow]

Хахаха, точно!

[@GNMbg]

they had just 1 good period - 1994, I wouldnt call this "a rise"

[@AleksPTA]

I thought this was a joke but there you go, I learned something new

[@peterkorek-mv6rs]

Thanks for the video. Very informative. You have done very a good job. As a schoolboy I often calculated things with Elka's first model when I visited my parents on their places of work.

[@connclissmann6514]

I've been waiting *YEARS* for this video. What kept you? It was cutting out to be made. 🙂 Seriously, thanks for this insight into a topic I never knew even existed.

[@elmarsi]

THANKS FOR YOUR WORK/CONTENT ITS REALLY AMAZING !!! HOPE YOU KEEP DOING MORE :)) greetings from Argentina ._.

[@HristoVelev]

Very cool video! I'm an alumni of the Pravets computer science high school, we frequented the PCB plant next door :)

[@ivayola]

This material is gold, thank you so much for the vid.!

[@KeenlyJohnas]

I started my programming ventures at 5th grade on my own Pravetz 8C (a better version of 82) that was bought as a present from my mom back in 1990 😊. I’ve learned Basic, Assembly and simple C languages on this cutie ❤

[@-kr8206]

Open a beer, you weren't the only one.

[@arjunraja8143]

Bro are you even sleeping? Back to back to back bangers.

[@stefanpfeiffermerino7633]

I like that there often are some interesting comments of people involved sharing their stories about the video's topic

[@mr.iot-tech278]

Amazing video bro even i did`t knowed some stuff before 1980 as you explain them !

[@gjbhnsdggffrq]

Thank you so much for all your excellent videos, especially the ones about Eastern communist bloc, which are very interesting to me. Recently, I read an article in Vietnamese media, which says Vietnam's Z111 military factory manufactured and exported transistors to other socialist countries back in early 1980s. I cannot believe it myself, although i know that Vietnam tried to enter transistor manufacturing industry back in late 1970s, pioneered by Hanoi University of Technology, by other random articles.The information about all these is very limited or non-existent, because the factory was a military units, all related personnel may have died or retired long ago, socialist bloc no longer existent and highly probably that the export volume was small etc. Until very recently when semiconductor industry becomes hot news does Vietnamese media start to focus on this, probably trying to say that Vietnam is not a totally new player. If you can access better information, please make a video about this. Thank you.

[@Bato1110]

Since your in the neighborhood, you should do a video on Yugoslavian computer industry!❤️

[@tomvanbreukelen2909]

Your videos are massively interesting. I never knew the history of former East block computers.

[@tonizhivkov2190]

Hello,Excellently arranged information, thank you, you forgot to add and Puldin computer!

[@NK-np1he]

Honestly the last thing I expected to see on your channel! I am even more surprised that they are many bulgarians watching your videos. I remember those old computers from school. I am surprised you didn't mention John Atanasoff, if you ask any bulgarian about him they will tell you he created the first computer.

[@thatisme3thatisme38]

The first DIGITAL computer. Not the first computer