About the First Association of Users of the «MIR» Series Computer

Abstract

The article examines the history of the creation and activity of the association of users of the «MIR» line of computers in the 1960 – 1970, which was the first in the USSR. Computers of the «MIR» series were developed under the leadership of academician Glushkov at the Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR. For «MIR» machines, the audacious task was set to make machine (mathematical) language as close as possible to human language. Thus, not only a programmer engineer (who understands machine codes) could become a user of the new computer, but a wide range of engineers, students and other specialists, after minimal mastering, could independently perform calculations within the limits of their tasks. The «MIR» line of computers implemented the principle of "intellectualization of computers" and it was very popular among a wide range of users (and was also exported to Europe) due to the interface, the possibility of dialogue in simple natural language, developed machine "intelligence". The huge number of publications about «MIR» in the leading mass media and magazines show that in the 1960 – 1970 the maximum possible information field was covered in the fairly closed USSR and prove a conscious and organized information campaign led by V.M. Glushkov and his team. Today we would talk about PR and marketing, but back then we were not advertising a product, but writing about Soviet scientists and their achievements. Several hundred organizations were members of the «MIR» user association. Similar computer associations already existed in the West, but for the socialist economy of the Soviet Union it was a bold and pioneering step. As part of the association's work, conferences and distribution of collections, meetings of users of the «MIR» computer were regularly held. During these meetings and conferences, users considered ways to improve the operation of computers, identified and eliminated shortcomings in the operation of machines, and proposed new technical ideas for implementation in development. The activities of the majority of Kyiv cyberneticians in the association were voluntary. During the Brezhnev stagnation, the format of civil activity of scientists became less and less suited to the state. Despite the huge contribution to the development of IT technologies, the Association of Computer Users «MIR» was closed, and similar associations in the USA and other countries continue to operate today. Keywords: «MIR» computer, the first PC, Institute of Cybernetics of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR, «MIR» computer user association, marketing, information campaign in mass media, intellectualization of computers.