In the 1980s, video games in East Germany were to introduce children and young people to technology and show that the GDR was a progressive country. The BSS 01 was manufactured between 1979Karla Sofia Höß, Bengt Jöran Eitel, Emily Claire Völker: Das Bildschirmspiel 01 - Versuch einer symmetrischen Netzwerkanalyse in drei Teilen: Teil 2. M.A. - Arbeit Studiengang Europäische Medienwissenschaft an der Universität Potsdam, April 2011, S. 4. and 1981Karla Sofia Höß, Bengt Jöran Eitel, Emily Claire Völker: Das Bildschirmspiel 01 - Versuch einer symmetrischen Netzwerkanalyse in drei Teilen: Teil 2. M.A. - Arbeit Studiengang Europäische Medienwissenschaft an der Universität Potsdam, April 2011, S. 37. by the to the Kombinat Mikroelektronik Erfurt belonging VEB Halbleiterwerk Frankfurt (Oder) as a part of the Konsumgüterproduktion. The basis for this was the Pong integrated circuit AY-3-8500, imported by American company General Instrument from the Nichtsozialistisches Wirtschaftsgebiet (NSW). The word BSS 01 is derived from the German word Bildschirmspiel 01, meaning Screen Game 01 or Video Screen Game 01. The console was sold under the brand RFT, where RFT stands for Rundfunk- und Fernmelde-Technik which is a manufacturers' association of various telecommunication companies in East Germany, for 550 East German marksHeiner Pachmann: Die Mattscheibe als Spielfeld. Berliner Zeitung, 26. März 1980, S. 3. (this is about half of an average monthly income in East Germany at that time). It was mostly delivered to youth centers, leisure and educational institutions, where they were set up for free play. The BSS 01 sold about 1,000 times in its first production series,robotron-net.de/images/sonst/BSS-01.pdf about 800 units of them are black and about 200 units are white. There were no further production series.
