EEVblog 1705 - The World's First Desktop Personal Computer TEARDOWN

29/08/2025 33 min
EEVblog 1705 - The World's First Desktop Personal Computer TEARDOWN

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Episode Synopsis

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.htmhttps://bellini.it/portfolio-articoli/mario-bellini-designer/http://www.curtamania.com/curta/database/brand/olivetti/olivetti%20programma%20101/index.htmlhttps://ub.fnwi.uva.nl/computermuseum/delayline.htmlhttps://ub.fnwi.uva.nl/computermuseum/p101dl.htmlhttps://avvocatostella.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Il-primo-personalcomputer-lOlivetti-La-Programma-101.pdfhttps://www.oldcalculatormuseum.com/c-programma101.htmlhttps://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://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpkqdbz1R_shttps://handwiki.org/wiki/Engineering:Programma_101Service manual: https://vintagecomputer.ca/files/Olivetti/Programma%20101/repair/RepairManualP101.pdfReference Manual: http://www.curtamania.com/curta/database/brand/olivetti/Olivetti%20Programma%20101/more/General%20Reference%20Manual.pdfIn Operation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcaNhfOKjIETV Commercial from 1966: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnItIQSwfSw00:00 - What was the world's first desktop personal computer?00:37 - The Olivetti Programma 10101:11 - Original 1966 TV commercial for the Programma 10105:47 - History of the Olivetti Programma 10107:15 - Let's have a look11:00 - The teardown begins11:58 - Italian design wankery from Mario Bellini14:51 - DTL Logic modules, none of that TTL rubbish16:52 - Removing the front panel19:40 - The electro-mechnical goodness21:21 - The cooling system22:21 - The capacitor has come-a-gutsa22:38 - The Analog Acoustic Delay Line24:36 - Serial number25:22 - The logic cards and the vertical construction28:09 - Flipping out the mechanical keyboard assembly31:17 - ConclusionWeb Site: http://www.eevblog.comHardware Store: https://eevblog.store/Merch Store: https://eevblog.dashery.com/If you find my videos useful you may consider supporting the EEVblog on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/eevblogOther channels:EEVblog2: http://www.youtube.com/EEVblog2EEVdiscover: https://www.youtube.com/eevdiscover#ElectronicsCreators #vintagecomputers #Teardown...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQOQoL2QDBI

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