In October 1965, Olivetti unveiled what would later be known as the “Perottina” – officially the Programma 101 – in New York, aiming to shrink computing from cavernous machines into a desk-friendly unit.
It measured about 48 by 61 cm in footprint and stood 19 cm high – hardly an imposing cabinet of metal, but a compact device meant for everyday users. It wasn’t just a smarter calculator: it was among the first machines to let users store programs in memory – a radical step toward personal computing.
