The Slovene mountaineer spirit and passion for nature runs through all facets of life. Even technology.
How Can It Be So?
Climbing uphill until you reach the top, just to see the view comes naturally to Slovenes. So it shouldn't surprise us that a small country of two million people (then part of a significantly larger Yugoslavia), should find enough courage to embark on building its own computer.
Iskra sign by IskraComputer History Museum in Slovenia
After WW2 the company Iskra (meaning spark) was established to produce technology related to general electrification challenges of the new society.
Iskra ETA 80 telephones (1980) by IskraComputer History Museum in Slovenia
Which resulted in licensing and own manufacturing of a wide array of products from sturdy electric meters to award winning telephones.
IskraData 100 with keyboard (1982) by IskraComputer History Museum in Slovenia
Iskra Delta
Iskra Delta was the pioneering computer manufacturer in Slovenia (then Yugoslavia).
The company started in 1974 as an importer for DEC computers and slowly started to develop in-house hardware and software with a very recognizable design style.
They produced a wide array of technology products relevant to the trends of the time, playing the complex role of bridging East and West in the era of Cold War Information Technology.
Iskra Delta Partner with screen and keyboard (1987) by Iskra DeltaComputer History Museum in Slovenia
The history of Iskra Delta is inseparable from many personal accounts of engineers who participated in the daily affairs of a rising tech player.
Triglav ridge (2016) by Jošt GantarSlovenian Tourist Board
One of those is how the internal alpine society at Iskra Delta carried the newly produced Triglav computer to the top of mount Triglav, assembled it and plugged it into a generator to have it run on the highest mountain in Slovenia.
Photo documentation of this Triglav on top of Triglav project is believed to be lost forever, but the spirit stayed.
Tap to explore
Where is mount Triglav?
On Top of Mount Triglav
Running this video would require several rooms full of Triglav computers. Technological progress is like climbing the highest mountain, only you never reach the top. But the view is worth it anyway.
💻 Story by the Computer History Museum in Slovenia
🎨 Design by Meta Wraber
