Zeiss is a German manufacturer of optical systems, industrial measurements and medical devices, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) they built a base for modern optics and manufacturing. There are currently two parts of the company, Carl Zeiss AG located in Oberkochen with important subsidiaries in Aalen, Göttingen and Munich, and Carl Zeiss GmbH located in Jena. Zeiss is one of the oldest existing optics manufacturers in the world.
Literary comment[]
Laud for Zeiss binoculars is an ongoing theme in Harry Turtledove works set during or shortly after World War II. Characters in Worldwar, After the Downfall, The War That Came Early, and The Hot War frequently praise this manufacturer for its fine equipment.
Zeiss in In the Presence of Mine Enemies[]
Zeiss Computing was the largest computer technology firm in the Greater German Reich, headquartered in Berlin. While producing a generally good product, in 2010, Zeiss was facing stiff competition from Japanese counterparts, who were developing cheaper and simpler operating systems and computers. Zeiss employee Walther Stutzman was an early advocate of Zeiss co-opting Japanese technology.
Stutzman, a secret Jew, used his position to access government files, keeping abreast of the political situation in the Reich, and keeping his fellow Jews safe.
While the technology existed to create a "world wide web", the Reich was apprehensive of giving everybody the ability to access data and make his or her own information available to others.
Literary comment[]
It's never specifically stated that the computing firm is an offshoot of the optics manufacturer. Nevertheless, the facts that the latter was already established nearly a century before the POD, and that Harry Turtledove has often referenced the brand, support this presumption.
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