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posted by Fnord666 on Tuesday November 12 2019, @03:11PM   Printer-friendly
from the not-sure-whodunnit dept.

Submitted via IRC for Runaway1956

Hitting the Books: Did the advent of the first desktop computer lead to murder?

Welcome to Hitting the Books. With less than one in five Americans reading just for fun these days, we've done the hard work for you by scouring the internet for the most interesting, thought provoking books on science and technology we can find and delivering an easily digestible nugget of their stories.

The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti: IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down Production of the World's First Desktop Computer
by Meryle Secrest

The world's first desktop computer didn't take shape in a Menlo Park garage or the bowels of a corporate production facility. It was created in a workshop in Northwest Italy owned and operated by the Olivetti family. Already renowned for their mechanical typewriters, the Olivetti pioneered electronic calculation a decade before Apple or IBM, which (as you'll read below) debuted at the New York World's Fair in 1964. The first of its kind, the P101, became an instant smash hit -- everyone from NASA to the US military was clamoring for these highly sought after "super-calculators."

But was the Olivetti family's fortune actually a curse? Shortly after the P101's debut, Adriano Olivetti, the head of the family suffered a mysterious and fatal heart attack at the age of 58, just 18 months before the company's talented engineer, Mario Tchou, died in an equally suspicious car accident. In The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti, author Meryle Secrest reveals the incredible behind-the-scenes story of the first desktop computer.


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  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:47AM (3 children)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:47AM (#919626) Journal
    So the guy died "mysteriously " at 58. Not really - we forget that the average age of death for men who were born when he was was 50 - so he lived longer than most.Same as we forget that retirement was set at 75 because almost nobody would live long enough to collect a pension. The writer lacks a sense of historical perspective and is not worthy of considering in any reading list.
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  • (Score: 2) by barbara hudson on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:49AM (1 child)

    by barbara hudson (6443) <barbara.Jane.hudson@icloud.com> on Wednesday November 13 2019, @12:49AM (#919628) Journal
    65, damn. Sorry about that, chief.
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    SoylentNews is social media. Says so right in the slogan. Soylentnews is people, not tech.
    • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:46PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:46PM (#920434)

      Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED itself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha!

  • (Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:49PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 14 2019, @05:49PM (#920435)

    Barbara (tom) Hudson CHEMICALLY CASTRATED itself with estrogen since you failed as a man lol! You also FAIL as a "woman" you NEUTERED delusional freakazoid! What is is like knowing you are a living mockery? A parody of both a 'woman' or a man! You know that. Everyone knows it about you "TraNsTeSticLe" hohohohoho. Barbara Hudson is a twistoid mental case deluding itself it is a REAL woman. Clue: You will never EVER be able to pass a DNA test due to the fact you do not, nor did you ever, possess female mitochondrial material you crackpot weirdo. It isn't logical to attempt to "fix" bodyparts that work with no issues. You had a working (extremely small) penis and balls you sawed off with estrogen hahahaha! Barbara Hudson breaks laws by possessing a SAWED OFF SHOTGUN, rotflmao!