*Wessi [‘wes-see] is the flippant term for a West German citizen.
“With the production of the personal computer 1715 the VEB Robotron Büromaschinenwerk Ernst Thälmann Sömmerda makes an important contribution to the realization of the decisions of the XI party congress of the SED. By realizing the commitment of the office machine workers to provide the national economy with 10,000 personal computers in addition to the plan by the end of 1986, the acceleration of scientific-technical progress for the intensification of national economic processes and the increase of labor productivity is effectively supported.”
Source: Handbook “The Personal Computer 1715”, Publisher: VEB Kombinat Robotron, several authors, ISBN 3-349-00231-5, Issue: 1986/1987).
That’s how it was in the GDR back then! The leadership of the state power, the Unity Party SED of the German Democratic Republic, submitted a plan every five years in which it was determined what was to be developed and produced in the factories of the East German combines. Of course, the importance of computer technology was also recognized in the former Eastern Bloc, which included the then GDR, and so the company very soon began its own developments in this area.
Continue reading “Wessi goes east: How I got to know the Robotron PC 1715”