Programma 101
The Programma 101, also known as Perottina, is the first commercial "desktop computer". Produced by Italian manufacturer Olivetti, based in Piedmont, and invented by the Italian engineer Pier Giorgio Perotto. It was launched at the 1964 New York World's Fair, volume production started in 1965. A futuristic design for its time, the Programma 101 was priced at $3,200 ($23,000 if adjusted to 2011). About 44,000 units were sold, primarily in the US.
It is usually called a printing programmable calculator or desktop calculator because three years later the Hewlett-Packard 9100A, a model that took inspiration from the P101, was advertised by HP as a "portable calculator", in order to be able to overcome the fears of computers and be able to sell it to corporations without passing through the corporate computer department. The concept of "stored program", however, allows the Programma 101 to be considered a true computer.
Capabilities
The Programma 101 was able to calculate the basic four arithmetic functions (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division), plus square root, absolute value, and fractional part. Also clear, transfer, exchange, and stop for input. There were 16 jump instructions and 16 conditional jump instructions. It's the conditional jump instructions that help lay claim to "computer" (a state machine) rather than "calculator" (a simple enumerator of instructions). 32 label statements were available as destinations for the 32 jump instructions and/or the four start keys (V, W, Y, Z).
Podcasts:
-
by R.E.M.
-
by Throwdown
-
by Adriana Calcanhotto
-
by Only Ones
-
by Silver Apples
Parakeey
by: R.E.M.you wake up in the morning
and fall out of your bed
mean cats eat parakeets
and this one's nearly dead.
you dearly wish the wind would shift
and greasy windows slide
open for the parakeet
who's colored bitter lime.
open the window
and lift into your dreams
lately baby
you can barely breathe.
a broken wrist
an accident
you know that something's wrong
you fold the leavings of your past
no one knows you've gone.
the sunspot flares of the early
nineties light up your wings.
and scan the shortwave radio
it's tracking outer rings.
the tectonic dispatcher shifts
to smooth the ocean floor
and flattens out to warmer winds
of Brisbane's sunny shore.
where buddhas tend to mending wrists
a tea made from the leaves
of eucalyptus fragrances
and coriander seeds.
you wake up in the morning
to warm Pacific breeze
where mean cats chew on licorice
and cannot climb the trees.
open your window
and lift into a dream
baby, baby
baby starts to breathe