Talk:History of computing in the Soviet Union

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on History of computing in the Soviet Union. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20041216203725/http://www.bashedu.ru/konkurs/tarhov/ to http://www.bashedu.ru/konkurs/tarhov/
 * Added tag to http://www.sigcis.org/?q=node%2F85%2F

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Cheers.— InternetArchiveBot  (Report bug) 16:29, 18 January 2018 (UTC)

Comment
I think that this page could do with some expansion around the (saratov - capatob) system.

I own the front panel from one of these systems and have done a little research on the equipment (vs PDP8).

It seems strange that no mention of this computer. If that one - which I know about - is missing, what else is missing?

I dont know enough about the technicals nor the science/political to make any comments. All I can supply are photographs! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Iainmaoileoin (talk • contribs) 15:44, 25 December 2018 (UTC)

The Soviet Union under Stalin opposed cybernetics, not computing
Stalin did not oppose computing, he opposed cybernetics, which are two distinct things. Cybernetics, on the one hand, seeks to analyze the universe as a large system containing many smaller machine-like systems (really, it is a metaphysical philosophy). Cybernetics was seen as pseudo-scientific, while on the other hand computing was seen as a useful tool and was supported by the Stalin administration and the press. The provided source for the claim that Stalin "considered the computer an evil product of capitalism" is just an American computing newspaper, which does not support its claim in any way, and which cannot be considered an expert source on the politics of the Soviet Union.

The following quote from anti-communist David Holloway indicates the falsehood of the claim that the USSR under Stalin opposed or suppressed computing:

“In 1960 Academician Berg wrote that ‘it took such a long time to form a sensible attitude to cybernetics that undoubted harm was done to our science and technology ‘… Berg had referred to the way in which the fears of philosophers had held up the development of computer technology; but, as has been mentioned, computer technology was exempted from the initial attacks on cybernetics. In 1949 the first department of Computer Mathematics in the Soviet Union had been set up at Moscow University, and in the following year the Academy of Sciences established an Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Engineering. Work on digital computers had begun in the late 1940s, and by 1953 several different computers had been completed.” (David Holloway, Innovation in Science-The Case of Cybernetics in the Soviet Union, p. 312) 132.160.49.90 (talk) 01:17, 2 April 2024 (UTC)