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The world’s first desktop personal computer wasn’t the Apple 1 or the Altair 8800. It wasn’t even the HP 9100A, it was the Olivetti Programma 101 from 1965! Computer Teardowns don’t get much more vintage than this.
Forum: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/blog/eevblog-1705-the-worlds-first-desktop-computer-teardown/
Links:
http://www.oldcomputers.arcula.co.uk/calc3.htm
https://bellini.it/portfolio-articoli/mario-bellini-designer/
http://www.curtamania.com/curta/database/brand/olivetti/olivetti%20programma%20101/index.html
https://ub.fnwi.uva.nl/computermuseum/delayline.html
https://ub.fnwi.uva.nl/computermuseum/p101dl.html
https://avvocatostella.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Il-primo-personalcomputer-lOlivetti-La-Programma-101.pdf
https://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/c-programma101.html
https://www.fondazioneadrianolivetti.it/en/p101-cecam/
https://www.inexhibit.com/case-studies/olivetti-programma-101-at-the-origins-of-the-personal-computer/
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/olivetti-programma-101-documentations-and-experiences.1239428/
https://handwiki.org/wiki/Engineering:Programma_101
Service manual: https://vintagecomputer.ca/files/Olivetti/Programma%20101/repair/RepairManualP101.pdf
Reference Manual: http://www.curtamania.com/curta/database/brand/olivetti/Olivetti%20Programma%20101/more/General%20Reference%20Manual.pdf
In Operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcaNhfOKjIE
TV Commercial from 1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnItIQSwfSw
Memory of Future with the designers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpkqdbz1R_s
00:00 – What was the world’s first desktop personal computer?
00:37 – The Olivetti Programma 101
01:11 – Original 1966 TV commercial for the Programma 101
05:47 – History of the Olivetti Programma 101
07:15 – Let’s have a look
11:00 – The teardown begins
11:58 – Italian design wankery from Mario Bellini
14:51 – DTL Logic modules, none of that TTL rubbish
16:52 – Removing the front panel
19:40 – The electro-mechnical goodness
21:21 – The cooling system
22:21 – The capacitor has come-a-gutsa
22:38 – The Analog Acoustic Delay Line
24:36 – Serial number
25:22 – The logic cards and the vertical construction
28:09 – Flipping out the mechanical keyboard assembly
31:17 – Conclusion
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