370 JÜRGEN DANYEL AND ANNETTE SCHUHMANN
Cultural Dimensions of the Digital Transformation
The cultural dimensions of the social transformation tied to computeriza-
tion in the 1980s are refl ected most clearly in the onset of the era of home
computers and computer games.^67 As with earlier media transitions, the
needs and demands at a societal level stimulated further technological
advancements. Personal computers, which could be turned into per-
sonalized instruments for creativity and play, became a welcome object
of desire in an increasingly diff erentiated and individualized society of
consumption and leisure. It is no coincidence that small computers and
gaming computers marched into private households, and especially chil-
dren’s rooms, in the fi rst half of the 1980s. As of 1982, the Commodore
64 ushered in a new generation of home computers that came to replace
the video game consoles and arcade games that had dominated the mar-
ket up to that point. The new computers had three distinct advantages:
they could be used to play an unlimited number of games, they off ered a
whole series of possible extensions and additions, and they could be used
for a number of other purposes other than just games, ranging from pro-
gramming and word processing to learning and making music. The com-
puter magazine Chip, which had been in circulation since 1978, praised
the “breadbox design” of the C 64 that was being sold for approximately
1,400 DM in 1983, calling it a “very strong model” off ering a high level
of performance and versatility.^68 Manufacturers, department stores, and
electronics stores, in turn, kept coming up with new off ers and incen-
tives. The commercialization of the computer became an important factor
in its conquest of society. Estimates suggest that seventeen million of the
legendary C 64 computers, which were manufactured up to 1994, had
been sold worldwide.^69 Other models, such as Commodore’s Amiga or
the devices sold by Atari, were similarly successful, achieving cult status
like the C 64.
All of the sudden, computers were found everywhere, giving rise to
the spread of computer stores, the appearance of computer advice shows
on TV, and the publication of specialist magazines. Media headlines that
proclaimed that the computer was invading private households further
fueled the hype. Video games, Der Spiegel wrote in 1983, were the “gate-
way drug” luring children and teenagers into the world of computers. It
went on to claim that the industry “was bombarding this target group.”^70
It did not take long before public debates broke out over this trend and
its dangers. These discussions refl ected the divergent experiences of the
population with computers, and the fronts were usually drawn along gen-
erational lines. One clear indication of this controversy surrounding com-
puters was that the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Schriften