The Olivetti company, an Italian manufacturer of computers, tablets, smartphones, printers and other such business products as calculators and fax machines, was founded as a typewriter manufacturer by Camillo Olivetti in 1908 in the Turin commune of Ivrea, Italy. Olivetti was a pioneer in computer development, starting with the mainframe systems in the 1950s, and continuing into the 1990s with PC-compatible laptops and desktops.
History 1950–1960s
Between 1955 and 1964 Olivetti developed some of the first transistorized mainframe computer systems, such as the Elea 9003. Although 40 large commercial 9003 and over 100 smaller 6001 scientific machines were completed and leased to customers to 1964, low sales, loss of two key managers and financial instability caused Olivetti to withdraw from the field in 1964.
In 1965, Olivetti released the Programma 101, considered one of the first commercial desktop programmable calculators. It was saved from the sale of the computer division to GE thanks to an employee, Gastone Garziera, who spent successive nights changing the internal categorization of the product from "computer" to "calculator", so leaving the small team in Olivetti and creating some awkward situations in the office, since that space was now owned by GE.
1970s In 1974, the firm released the TC800, an intelligent terminal designed to be attached to a mainframe and used in the finance sector. It was followed in 1977 by the TC1800.
P6040
The Olivetti P6040 was a personal computer, described by its maker as a personal minicomputer. The P6040 was programmable in Mini BASIC and featured a floppy disk drive that used proprietary 2.5-inch sleeveless disks called "Minidisk". It was produced starting from 1977 and was the first microprocessor-based Olivetti computer, the Intel 8080, instead of on TTL logic CPU.Computer History: P6040
Designed by Pier Giorgio Perotto, it was presented at Hannover Messe in April 1975 together with the P6060, its hardware used TTL technology. Both had a brown-colored case.
The P6040 was little in dimensions and weight, thanks to the introduction of microprocessor (for the first time at Olivetti).
Another innovation in the model was the introduction of the light-emitting diode display. The design was by Mario Bellini.
1980s
Olivetti's first modern personal computer, the M20, featuring a Zilog Z8000 CPU, was released in 1982.
The M20 was followed in 1983 by the M24, a clone of the IBM PC using DOS and the Intel 8086 processor (at 8 MHz) instead of the Intel 8088 used by IBM (at 4.77 MHz). The M24 was sold in North America as the AT&T 6300. Olivetti also manufactured the AT&T 6300 Plus, which could run both DOS and Unix. The M24 was also sold as Xerox 6060 in the US, and as LogAbax PERSONA 1600 in France. The Olivetti M28 was the firm's first PC to have the Intel 80286 processor. It was sold in France as the LogAbax Persona 1800.
The same year Olivetti produced its M10 laptop computer, a 8085-based workalike of the successful Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 100, which it marketed in Europe. These were the first laptops to sell in million-unit quantities, though the itself only attained sales figures in the tens of thousands and went out of production within two years.
In 1985, the company acquired a controlling share in the British computer manufacturer Acorn Computers Ltd; a third partner was Thomson SA. Olivetti sold the Thomson MO6 and Acorn BBC Master Compact with brand names Olivetti Prodest PC128 and PC128S respectively.
In 1987, Olivetti introduced the LSX line of computers which was based on the Motorola 68000 series of processors. They could run either Olivetti's proprietary MOS or Olivetti's own Unix variant, X/OS. Intended to replace Olivetti's existing Linea Uno (L1) range of multiuser systems, introduced in 1981, the reported investment in the LSX line by Olivetti was seen as a necessary measure to update its range, bringing increased performance, offering an upgrade path to existing customers (with a promise that existing L1 systems could be upgraded with a new processor card), and preserving a degree of control over product designs that would not have been possible by merely selling or adapting products from AT&T, at that time a significant shareholder in the company. For the high-end LSX models, Olivetti employed technologies from Edge Computer, an Arizona-based company pursuing higher-performance processor designs offering a degree of compatibility with the Motorola 68000 architecture.
In 1988, Olivetti released the M380/C, part of the Pandora project – an experimental system for multimedia applications. They also released the PC1 Prodest and PC1 HD (XT clones, similar to the Schneider Euro PC).
In 1989, the Olivetti M290S was released, featuring an Intel 80286 at 12 MHz, 1 MB of RAM and a 30 MB hard drive. That same year, the company presented their 80486-based next generation of workstations, with Olivetti's CP486 (Computing Platform 486) model (with EISA bus) being shown at CeBit. As part of a relaunch of the company's Open Systems Architecture (OSA) strategy in 1991, the CP486 was renamed to the LSX-5010, and an accompanying 33 MHz model was introduced as the LSX-5020, alongside the four-processor LSX-5030 and LSX-5040 systems. The CP486 provided sockets for a Weitek WTL4167 numeric co-processor and an Intel i860 RISC processor.
1990s In 1990, Olivetti had its own distribution network in New Zealand through Essentially Software Ltd.. (owned by Gary McNabb) located at Mt. Eden in Auckland and Wellington, where Olivetti M300-100 16 MHz PCs with 80386SX CPU were sold for NZ$7395 and used as graphical work station for design houses using Corel Draw as graphical program. The New Zealand distribution stopped in 1991 when Olivetti could not supply their PCs.
In 1991, Olivetti introduced the D33, a laptop in a carry case and the PCS 286S, a PC with VGA monitor and keyboard. Olivetti also sold quasi-portable 8086/8088-based PCs with an integrated keyboard and one or two integrated 3.5" floppy disk drives, running DOS 3.27, an Olivetti OEM version of PC DOS 3.20 with minor improvements like the M21 portable (based on M24) and the M15. Also later Olivetti produced interesting laptops like M111, M211, S20, D33, Philos and Echos series. A very interesting subnotebook was the Quaderno, about the same size as an A5 paper – it was the grandfather of the netbooks introduced 20 years later.
Although Olivetti had committed to a range of MIPS-based workstations running Windows NT, introducing the M700 series in 1992 with the M700-10 featuring a MIPS R4000PC processor, the company pursued a partnership with Digital Equipment Corporation in 1992, putting its MIPS-based offerings in doubt as the company announced its intention to eventually focus on only two product lines: one featuring Intel processors and the other Alpha processors. This partnership eventually led to the introduction of the LSX 7000 range of workstations and servers employing Digital's Alpha CPU in 1994. However, just as Olivetti had abandoned its development of products based on the MIPS architecture, discontinuing the M700 produced by its Japanese subsidiary, by 1993, the company had also narrowed its development focus "entirely" to systems based on Intel's Pentium, merely reselling "semi-finished" Digital products based on Alpha.
Olivetti did attempt to recover its position by introducing the Envision in 1995, a full multimedia PC, to be used in the living room; this project was a failure. Gateway also introduced a similar product in the U.S., called the Destination 2000, around the same period, to a similarly mixed commercial reception.
The company continued to develop personal computers until it sold its PC business in 1997.
Models Name Photo Year Type CPUCreated byDesign by NotesElea 1957 Mainframe Transistor basedMario Tchou Ettore Sottsass Elea series (1957–64). Entirely Transistor based.The Elea 9003 (photo) is the first commercial model P101 (Programma 101) 1964 Programmable calculator Transistor based Pier Giorgio Perotto Mario Bellini (chassis) In New York's MoMA . Golden Compass Award.P102 1965 Programmable calculator Transistor basedPier Giorgio Perotto Mario Bellini Version of Programma 101 with an RS-232 serial connector and ability to connect printerP203 1967 Personal computer Transistor based Pier Giorgio Perotto Mario Bellini P101 with Tekne 3 and Editor 4. For business, printer includedP602 1971 Microcomputer Integrated circuit For technical or scientific usageP603 1972 Microcomputer Integrated circuit P602 with Editor 4. For business.P652 1973 Microcomputer Mario Bellini For technical or scientific usageTC800 1974 Mainframe Banking terminalTC1800 1978 Mainframe P6060 1975 Personal computer PUCE1/PUCE2TTLPier Giorgio Perotto Ettore Sottsass and G. Sowden For technical or scientific usageP6040 1975 Personal computerIntel 8080Pier Giorgio Perotto Mario Bellini First Olivetti computer to use a microprocessor. For technical or scientific usage. Three versions.P6066 1975 Personal computer Similar to P6060 Pier Giorgio Perotto Olivetti BCS 1974–78 MainframeBusiness Computer Systems, from 1974–1978 M20 1982 Personal computer Zilog Z8001 4 MHzEnrico Pesatori, Enzo Torresi and project team Ettore Sottsass
Antonio Macchi Cassia
George SowdenFirst Olivetti personal computer in 1982. Own operating system: PCOS. Commercial FailureM10 1983 Laptop Intel 80C85 CMOS at 3 MHzAntonio Macchi Cassia Perry A. King First laptop.Present under different brand names: Kiotronic Kc-85, Tandy Trs-80, NEC PC-8201 and Olivetti M10. SMAU Industrial Design prizeM30 1983 Minicomputer Zilog Z8001 George SowdenLinea L1. Operating system COSMOS IV (MOS)M40 1983 Minicomputer Zilog Z8001 George SowdenLinea L1. Operating system COSMOS IV (MOS)M44 1983 Minicomputer Zilog Z8001 George Sowden Linea L1M60 1984 Minicomputer Zilog Z8001 George SowdenLinea L1. Operating system COSMOS IV (MOS)M24 1983 Personal computer desktop Intel 8086 (16 bit) at 8 MHz – Optional coprocessor 8087Luigi Mercurio, Sandro Graciotti E. SottsassIBM PC compatible; First Olivetti MS-DOS compatible computerM21 1983LaptopIntel 8086 (16 bit) at 4 MHz – Optional coprocessor 8087 Portable version of the M24 with an integrated monitor.M19 1986 Personal computer AMD 8088 4.77MHz Economical modelM28
1986 Personal computer Intel 80286 8MHz M70 1986 Minicomputer Zilog Z8001 Linea L1. Operating system COSMOS IV (MOS)Prodest PC 128 1986 Home Computer Motorola 6809e 1 MHz Rebranded Thomson MO6, first on the Olivetti Prodest series.M15 1987 Laptop Intel 80C88 4.77MHz Removable keyboard. First laptop.Prodest PC 128s 1987 Home Computer MOS 6512 2 MHz Sold as the BBC Master Compact outside of Italy, second in the Olivetti Prodest series.Prodest PC1 1988 Home Computer NEC V40 4.778 MHz, XT clone Third in the Olivetti Prodest series.M2001988 Personal computer NEC V40 8 MHz Parallel project to the ETV 2700 typewriterM240 1984 Personal computer Intel 8086 8 MHz M280 1986 Personal computer Intel 80286 12 MHz M290 1984 Personal computer Intel 80286 12 MHz M380-40 1991 M380/C 1988 proprietary "Pandora" OSM380 1988Personal Computer Intel 80186 Model 380/C 1988 Intel 80386DX 20 MHz Model XP1 and XP5 1989 Intel 80386DX 25 MHz Model XP7 (tower) 1990 Intel 80386SX 33 MHz Model XP9 (tower) Operating system SCO XenixPE28 1988 M111 1989 LaptopNEC V30 10 MHzMario Bellini Bruce Fifield Operating system DOS 3.30M260s1989Personal computerIntel 80286