A COMPLETELY ITALIAN PRODUCT: THE PERSONAL COMPUTER

by Laura Poggiani

 

 

 

Everyone thinks that the invention of the most used in the modern era, the personal computer, is a completely American invention. It's not in this way, on the contrary is a completely Italian one, having on the back the genial intuition of a man out of the ordinary.

Adriano Olivetti, who took the reins of the firm of Ivrea was an absolutely innovative personality: his ascendant Libra, but with the House 1 spreading along the intuitive Sign of Scorpio, makes him a fertile and an open to other input mind loving the Beauty and the Art. MC in Leo Sign, with Mars, brings his professional achievement to dominate. Personality extremely active as its Sun in Aries, Olivetti tip all initially on typewriters up to make this useful tool, even a "cult" with the design of the famous "Letter 22" the first portable typewriter. But apart from his undoubted entrepreneurial skills, enhanced by Sun/Uranus Trine and by the Stellium in Capricorn, there is also a great attention to his workers and their problems, as the Sun/Venus conjunction in 6. He created the first nursery business, giving its employees a higher salary and was the first to pay in full the 9 months of absence for maternity benefits to female workers of his company. His was also the record to found a branch in the South where did work more than 150 workers becoming this even more productive than the one in the North.

The troubles for Olivetti come both from his Uranus in the House 2, a few ability to get standable profits, and Mars in the House 10: the Executive Manager of Fiat will be his first enemy, even if Fiat was not directly concerned as it's production was concernig rubber. He formed a coalition with Pirelli pushing Mediobanca against Olivetti.

The triple conj. Jupiter-Saturn-Moon, in House 3, makes him a big communicator but also lucky in contacts with Foreign: Olivetti, in fact, finds a good association with a young Chinese-Italian engineer Mario Tchou, who will be the suggester for the personal computer production, and in November 1959 Olivetti will be able to submit to the President of the Republic Giovanni Gronchi the Elea 9003 (acronym for Elettronic Automatic Computer). Then, in 1965, Olivetti realised Programma 101, the first personal computer in history, presented on October 1965 in New York at Waldorf Astoria Hotel and at BEMA Show, the most important office machines show. Nevertheless Olivetti will be especially remembered for the manufacture of typewriters and the fame for combination between industry and personal computer will pass to IBM.

Olivetti will suddenly die for a heart attack during a train trip taking him to Switzerland while some days after even his Chinese-Italian manager will tragical perish in a car accident. It's enough to let some people think they both were assasinated.

 


by Laura Poggiani  - All rights reserved