Agat (computer)

The Agat was inspired primarily by the Apple II, though being largely different from it in design.{{Citation|author=Ревич Ю. В.|title=Информационные технологии в СССР. Создатели советской компьютерной техники|year=2014|publisher=БХВ-Петербург|isbn=978-5-9775-3309-6|pages=315|language=Russian}} A domestically produced "partitioned 588 series" CPU was used on early pre-production series, which simulated the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor instruction set.{{cite web|url=http://www.homecomputer.de/pages/easteurope_ussr.html|title=HCM: East European Home Computers|last=Walgenbach|first=Stefan|accessdate=3 January 2010}} While this permitted some degree of compatibility with the Apple, timing differences between the two CPUs rendered certain tasks (such as floppy disk access and sound generation) incompatible. Later models incorporated actual MOS 6502 CPUs which permitted a greater degree of interoperability between the two platforms.

Early editions of the Agat came with a cassette tape reader and a keyboard, although later editions replaced the tape reader with a 5¼ inch floppy disk drive. The keyboard utilised the standard Russian keyboard layout, and offered a choice between either Cyrillic or Latin symbols. Earlier models had very limited upgradeability, but later models incorporated additional upgrade and peripheral slots to allow expansion. Other available peripherals included a printer, mouse, and memory upgrades. The display was provided through a 30 cm SECAM television, rather than a specialised computer monitor, that was connected to the rest of the machine through a 1 metre long cable.{{cite web|url=http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=1&c=509|title=Old-Computers.com - LEMZ Agat|accessdate=26 December 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622022812/http://www.old-computers.com/MUSEUM/computer.asp?st=1&c=509|archive-date=22 June 2010|url-status=dead}}

Apart from the initial model, there were a number of different versions of the Agat produced:{{cite web|url=http://www.computer-museum.ru/histussr/agat_pc.htm |title=Personal computers ("Agat") |date=January 13, 2004 |language=Russian |accessdate=26 December 2009 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308115440/http://www.computer-museum.ru/histussr/agat_pc.htm |archivedate=March 8, 2008 }}

• Agat-4: A small quantity of this model was released in 1983. While popular, it quickly became obsolete.
• Agat-7: The first mass-produced model, introduced in 1984, it featured more internal memory (96 KB) and disk capabilities than the Agat-4.
• Agat-8: An updated and enhanced version of the Agat-7.
• Agat-9: The final mass-produced model, introduced in 1986{{cite web | url=https://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=510 | title=Agat 9 LEMZ }} with many improvements upon the Agat-7 and Agat-8, including additional video modes, improved memory management (128 KB or 256 KB), and improved compatibility with the Apple II + 64K.

File:Agat 32x32.png|alt=A black display showing a test pattern of Cyrillic text and Arabic numbers in red, green, yellow, blue, fuchsia, turquoise, and white|Agat 32x32 text mode

File:Agat 64x32 2.png|Agat 64x32 text mode

File:Agat 64x64.png|Agat 64x64 pixel mode

File:Agat-7 Chess.png|Agat-7 chess game

File:Agat-7 WordMaster.png|Agat-7 WordMaster text editor

File:Agat-9 Black.jpg|Agat-9

File:Agat 256x256 color.png|Agat-9 256x256 pixel mode

File:Agat 512x256.png|Agat-9 512x256 pixel mode

File:Agat-9 BASIC programm.png|Agat-9 BASIC program example

File:Agat-9 TOR.png|Agat-9 Tor text editor

File:Agat-9 SCHM.png|Agat-9 SCHM (VisiCalc clone)

The initial run of Agat-4 machines were produced at the "Lianozovsky Electromechanical Plant" (LEMZ). Production was difficult, as the LEMZ facilities were more intended for the production of motor vehicles and radar equipment, rather than computers, and the administration of the plant was not closely associated with the designers of the Agat. Future production runs occurred at more appropriate facilities such as the "Volzhsky Plant of Computer Technology" (EWT) and the "Zagorski Electromechanical Plant" (ZEMZ).{{cite journal|last=Dubova|first=Natalia|title=The first Soviet computer|journal=Computerworld Russia|issue=18|language=Russian|url=http://www.osp.ru/cw/2000/18/4732/|accessdate=27 December 2009}}

Compared to other computers available in the Soviet Union at the time, the Agat was several times cheaper, which led to its widespread adoption in schools and other educational institutions across the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc. This is reflected in the fact that most of the software available for the Agat is of an educational nature—including a BASIC interpreter, text editing programs, and the "Shkol'nitsa" ("schoolgirl") package, designed to assist teachers in the classroom.

The official selling price for the Agat was 3,900 rubles,В.И. Грубов, В.С. Кирдан, С.Ф. Козубовский. Справочник по ЭВМ / Отв. ред. Г.Е. Пухов. — Киев: Наукова думка, 1989. С. 190. {{ISBN|5-12-000304-4}} as much as twenty times the average monthly salary,{{cite book|last=Schellenberg|first=Kathyrn|title=Computers in Society|publisher=Dushkin|year=1988|edition=2nd|pages=169|isbn=0-87967-727-9}} which put it out of reach of all but the most privileged of private individuals.

• "Schoolgirl" with Robic programming language included.

BYTE in November 1984 called Agat "a bad copy of the Apple". While stating "my overall impressions were favorable, considering the source", the reviewer found that "the operating system and ROM seemed to be a direct lift from the Apple", the internals were a "nightmarish wire maze", and that performance was noticeably slower than that of a real Apple. He reported that ELORG planned to sell the computer (with software) for $17,000, and that its officials were "shocked" when told how much computing power that amount of money would purchase in the United States. The reviewer concluded, "it wouldn't stand a chance in today's international market, even if they gave it away. It has neither the polish nor the sophistication to compete".{{r|bores198411}}

Yuri Rogachyov, one of the key figures in the history of the Soviet computer industry, co-founder of M-series computers, and head of the Scientific Research Institute of Computer Complexes in 1983—1988,{{Citation|author=Ревич Ю. В.|title=Информационные технологии в СССР. Создатели советской компьютерной техники|year=2014|publisher=БХВ-Петербург|isbn=978-5-9775-3309-6|pages=240|language=Russian}} stated that Agat computers were not produced at the time when the BYTE reviewer arrived in the Soviet Union, and that what he saw during a visit to the Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Complex in Moscow in 1982 was a custom-built mock-up device intended for testing and debugging medical software, bearing little relation to even the early Agat systems.{{cite web|title=Вычислительная техника: СССР, Россия, Post PC|url= http://ru.pcmag.com/pk/28422/help/vychislitelnaia-tekhnika-sssr-rossiia-post-pc|publisher=PC Magazine|date=2017-01-30|accessdate=February 14, 2018|language=Russian}}{{cite web|title=Рогачёв Ю. В. Персональная ЭВМ "Агат"|url=http://www.computer-museum.ru/histussr/agat_pc.htm|publisher=Виртуальный компьютерный музей|date=2004-01-13| accessdate=February 14, 2018|language=Russian}}{{cite book|title=Рогачёв Ю. В. Персональная ЭВМ "Агат" // Страницы истории отечественных ИТ. Т. 2/ сост. Э. М. Пройдаков|url=http://www.computer-museum.ru/books/it_history_2.pdf|publisher=М.: Альбина Паблишер|year=2016|page=189|isbn=978-5-9614-5218-1|accessdate=February 14, 2018|language = Russian}}

{{reflist|refs=

{{cite news | url=https://archive.org/stream/byte-magazine-1984-11/1984_11_BYTE_09-12_New_Chips#page/n135/mode/2up | title=Agat / A Soviet Apple II Computer | work=BYTE | date=November 1984 | accessdate=23 October 2013 | author=Bores, Leo D. MD | pages=134}}

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{{List of Soviet computer systems}}

{{Commons category}}

Category:Apple II clones

Category:Ministry of Radio Industry (USSR) computers

Category:Computers designed in Russia