During the 1980s Bulgaria specialized in producing microcomputers in the former communist block countries and the Soviet Union specialized in producing big machines and supercomputers. The Eastern block countries had the so-called Economic Inter-support Council and in the frame of that Council each country has been developing some economic area. At that time it was not so clear the microcomputers will be the future and some experts believe that the microcomputers are mainly for games and home usage. It happened that in 1981 the first microcomputer in Eastern Europe called Imko II then (in 1982) called Pravetz 82 (with 8 bit processor) has been released in Bulgaria. This was Apple II compatible microcomputer and it came to life just after Apple II. This situation placed Bulgaria in the leadership role in microcomputers production not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East and even in the Central Europe. A huge plants have been built exporting thousands of Pravetz 82 and later Pravetz 16 (with 8086/88 processor) to all Eastern block countries and to Arabic countries. The development of computer industry in that time strongly influenced the development of software and also the development of computer arts. In the beginning of 80's the first analogue synthesiser (produced in Paris and occupying almost one big hall) has been installed in the Bulgarian National Radio and thus giving a strong tool to the electronic music composers from the Balkan region. The own production of EGA and VGA displays in the middle and late 80s pushed the computer graphics and visualization to a new level.Petkov, R., Multimedia development and computer arts in Bulgaria, Balkanmedia magazine, V3, Balkanmedia, ISSN 0861-5047, C: 1996, p. 25-26,Behind the Silicon Curtain, Computer Art in Eastern Bloc, Todor Bozhinov, University of the Arts Bremen, p. 60
During the 1980s Bulgaria specialized in producing microcomputers in the former communist bloc countries and the Soviet Union specialized in producing big machines and supercomputers. The Eastern bloc countries had the so-called Economic Inter-support Council and in the frame of that Council each country has been developing some economic area. At that time it was not so clear the microcomputers will be the future and some experts believe that the microcomputers are mainly for games and home usage. It happened that in 1981 the first microcomputer in Eastern Europe called Imko II then (in 1982) called Pravetz 82 (with 8 bit processor) has been released in Bulgaria. This was Apple II compatible microcomputer and it came to life just after Apple II. This situation placed Bulgaria in the leadership role in microcomputers production not only in Eastern Europe but also in the Middle East and even in the Central Europe. A huge plants have been built exporting thousands of Pravetz 82 and later Pravetz 16 (with 8086/88 processor) to all Eastern bloc countries and to Arabic countries. The development of computer industry in that time strongly influenced the development of software and also the development of computer arts. In the beginning of 80's the first analogue synthesiser (produced in Paris and occupying almost one big hall) has been installed in the Bulgarian National Radio and thus giving a strong tool to the electronic music composers from the Balkan region. The own production of EGA and VGA displays in the middle and late 80s pushed the computer graphics and visualization to a new level.Petkov, R., Multimedia development and computer arts in Bulgaria, Balkanmedia magazine, V3, Balkanmedia, ISSN 0861-5047, C: 1996, p. 25-26,Behind the Silicon Curtain, Computer Art in Eastern Bloc, Todor Bozhinov, University of the Arts Bremen, p. 60
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