364 JÜRGEN DANYEL AND ANNETTE SCHUHMANN
the army, or the economy. Consequently, it did not take long for the term
“home computer” to disappear from offi cial language. Once these com-
puters hit the shelves in radio and TV stores in the major cities, private
buyers had to pay 4,000 DDR Marks at fi rst, which later dropped down
to about 2,000 DDR Marks. Additionally, these users still had to buy a
small television screen, such as those made by the Soviet brand Junost,
and other peripheral devices. Not more than a total of 30,000 exemplars
from the diff erent series of low-end small computers were produced in
the GDR between 1984 and 1989.^47 There are no records available that
provide detailed information about how many of them were actually sold
in stores. For the most part, these computers were acquired by schools,
so that at least most of the young people in the GDR came into con-
tact with computers in the 1980s. Moreoever, just as in the West, there
were also radio and television programs about computers in the GDR, as
well as computer magazines that were designed to pique the interest of
hobbyists.
In light of this situation, it is astonishing that a lively computer scene
actually developed in the GDR and the other Eastern Bloc countries.
Computer fans often had to improvise electronic components or make
the best out of the few, highly sought-after computers or parts that they
could get from the West. The estimated two hundred thousand home
computers (a fi gure that cannot be corroborated with concrete evidence)
that were sent as gifts from relatives in West Germany or sold in the GDR
at the Intershops were worth enormous amounts of money, equivalent to
a family car.^48 Although this cross-border transfer of computers from the
West was more or less tolerated, software imports were strictly prohib-
ited. The state and the party sought to keep such subculture trends under
control. By regulating access to software as well as hardware technology,
they could keep a fi nger on private computer use. For the most part,
the few computers that were available outside industry and government
offi ces could only be accessed through the computer clubs and cabinets
that were part of so-called social organizations, such as the Society for
Sport and Technology (GST), that strictly controlled their use.
The Communist regimes were always suspect of the idea of privately
owned computers because they presented a way to have free access to
information and its dissemination. From their perspective, even simple
technology such as the typewriter potentially opened the door for oppo-
sitional activities. Consequently, a key dynamic element of “Information
Society” was lacking in the last years of the Communist bloc, namely
computerization “from below” characterized by the mass cultural appro-
priation of this technology. The states of Eastern and Central Europe did
not enter into the Internet Age until after the collapse of Communism.