The following are a few articles that appeared in newspapers and magazine when the Programma 101 was launched in New York. As it can be seen, the most striking features for the reviewers were size and affordable price, making the Programma 101 the opener of the "a computer in every office" age.
Business Week - oct 23rd 1965
'DESK-TOP' COMPUTER IS TYPEWRITER SIZE
Olivetti Underwood Corp. has developed a desk-top computer that's truly small enough to fit on top of a desk.
About the size of an office typewriter, it is classified as a computer because it does such tasks as payroll computation
and interest calculations by referring to an internally stored program. Called the Programma 101, it is priced
at $3,200.
A payroll clerk would put a magnetic program card in the machine; as many as 120 instructions for such jobs are
preprinted on each card. Then the clerk would keypunch in an employee's earnings, and the machine would print out
programmed deductions for taxes, medical plans, and the like.
Daily News Record - New York - oct 15th 1965
OLIVETTI LAUNCHES NEW DIMENSIONS IN COMPUTERS
NEW YORK — A compact and economically priced desk-top computer that should open the data processing age for
small to medium-sized firms and stores, made its debut here, Thursday.
The new computer, known as the Programma 100, was exhibited by Olivetti Underwood Corp., marking the firm's entry
into the EDP field. It was described as filling the gap between large conventional computers and the desk calculators.
New York Journal American - oct 25th 1965
A DESK TOP COMPUTER
We may see a computer in every office even before there are two cars in every garage.
This outlook for business machines drew near reality this week when Olivetti Underwood unveiled PROGRAMMA 101 -
a desktop computer which businesses can use and own outright.
Engineering News-record - nov 11th 1965
KEYBOARD COMPUTER SITS ON DESK
The Olivettt Underwood Corp. has introduced a desktop computer that the company says will bridge the gap between
desk calculators and full scale computers.
It is a keyboard-operated machine that prints input data, instructions and answers at the rate of 30 characters
per second. Programs involving up to 120 instruction mat be entered manually through the keyboard, or, if it is
a program that is used repeatedly, it may be fed to the machine automatically.
Once programmed, the machine will solve a problem when the variables are entered on the keyboard; no operation
instructions are needed, the machine follows the program, printing out the answers automatically.
The machine can solve differential equations, bessel functions and perform numerical integration. Spokesmen for
Olivetti Underwood say the machine's program language is extremely simple and can be learned by anyone familiar
with mathematical calculations in a very short time.
In addition, the company is developing and will maintain a library of standard programs in most fields of mathematics,
including engineering.
The machine can be bought outright for $3,200 or leased on a monthly basis.
(Click on image to zoom)