Thursday, August 30, 2012

Seventy Pounds. 240 K of Memory. No display -- for $3200

Today we'd laugh at an advertisement like that, but 50 years ago the Olivetti company began developing the Programma 101, the world's first personal computer -- meaning that it was small enough to fit on a desk instead of requiring an add-on to your building to house.

Several of the developments the Olivetti team achieved stayed with the computer for a long time -- the magnetic striped cards morphed into floppy disks. The company hired a noted designer to create the machine itself, paying attention to a feature that went all but ignored until the madcaps at Cupertino dreamed up the iMac.

The upside -- with no display, there's no Blue Screen of Death.

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