At the beginning of 1986, the city on the Vrbas had two gathering places for computer enthusiasts. The "Banjaluka" Computer Club operated in the premises of the Borik Local Community, while the computer section of Radio klub Nikola Tesla was housed in the "Narodna tehnika" barracks building at Paskulina ciglana. Together they brought together around 100 members.
The "Banjaluka" Computer Club did not own a single computer; instead, computers (mostly Commodore 64) were lent to the club by "more serious" members. The club's purpose was socializing among computer enthusiasts, exchanging experiences and programs, following literature, and writing computer programs. The Radio klub Nikola Tesla section primarily organized beginner courses and owned three ZX Spectrums (with 16 kilobytes of RAM).
The photo story about computer clubs in Banja Luka was published by "Glas" in January '86.
"With these two amateur gathering places for computer enthusiasts, the desire of young people to learn to use computers is far from fully covered," the Banja Luka newspaper stated, noting that "hundreds of kids already have computers at home but do not know how to use them."
(Siniša Stanić)