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Olivetti Programma 101: At the Origins of the Personal Computer
The Olivetti Programma 101 desk-top computer; history, design, and legacy of what is possibly the first human-centered personal computer ever
The technical development team of Programma 101 (except Giuliano Gaiti); left to right and bottom to top: Pier Giorgio Perotto, Giovanni De Sandre, Gastone Garziera, and Giancarlo Toppi; photo courtesy of Laboratorio-museo Tecnologicamente, Ivrea / Wikimedia. Due to its limited RAM of 1,920 bits, the Programma 101 was mostly a machine conceived to make arithmetic calculations – sums, subtractions, divisions, multiplications, square roots -, yet, like modern computers, it could also perform logical operations, conditional and unconditional jumps, and print the data stored in a register, all through a custom-made alphanumeric programming language. The machine didn’t have a microprocessor or integrated circuits; like most computers of the time, its electronics were exclusively based on transistors, diodes, capacitors, and the like, grouped into larger functional “micro-units” (a patented technology specially developed by Olivetti for the Programma 101).
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