Apple 1 computer sells

Оригинальный и полностью рабочий компьютер Apple I выпуска 1976 года впервые продают на eBay

В настоящее время на аукционе eBay пользователь из США выставил на продажу персональный компьютер Apple I, причем им была сразу установлена минимальная цена за этот лот — $1 750 000. Продавец объясняет в описании устройства столь высокую цену тем, что компьютер находится в идеальном состоянии, хранится в оригинальном деревянном корпусе Byte Shop, найти который в оригинальном виде в настоящий момент большая редкость, так как устройств в подобных “ретро-чехлах” осталось по всему миру в целом состоянии не больше шести экземпляров. Также в комплекте поставляется оригинальный блок питания, клавиатура Datanetics Version D и видеомодулятор Sony TV-115, который в свое время особо рекомендовал сам Стив Джобс.

Ранее на многих аукционах подобные экземпляры Apple I оценивали и продавали за суммы от $200 тыс. до $600 тыс. Самый дорогой Apple I на этот момент был продан за рекордные $905 тыс. в 2014 году на одном из аукционов в США. Покупатель — музей Генри Форда приобрел тогда один из немногих рабочих экземпляров Apple I за цену, которая почти в 1400 раз превышает первоначальную стоимость данного устройства.

И вот сейчас на аукционе eBay появился новый лот из истории IT. Продавец Кришна Блейк находится во Флориде, США, и утверждает, что он второй владелец столь раритетного устройства.

Блейк особо подчеркивает, что:

• это не реплика, все детали и элементы оригинальные, не подвергались никаким модификациям или ремонту;
• в устройстве установлена центральная (монтажная) плата NTI второй партии;
• компьютер находится в полностью функциональном рабочем состоянии;
• состояние и работоспособность данного экземпляра Apple I было проверено экспертом по Apple Кори Коэном совсем недавно в августе 2019 года, где на фестивале Vintage Computer Festival West этот компьютер был одним из двух постоянно работающих винтажных устройств во время проведения мероприятия и полноценно работал по шесть часов в день;
• у компьютера есть сертификат подлинности, который подтвержден в официальном реестре компьютеров Apple-1.

Персональный компьютер Apple I из первых партий появился в продаже в июле 1976 года и выпускался в 1976-77 годах. Было собрано в общей сложности порядка двухсот экземпляров устройства. Цена компьютера в продаже составляла $666,66, а его создатель с другом (Стив Возняк и Стив Джобс) продавали устройство в компьютерный магазин по цене в $500.

Продавец и хозяин раритетного устройства Кришна Блейк надеется, что его предложение заинтересует компьютерные музеи, коллекционеров или энтузиастов, которые ждут, когда подобное рабочее устройство будет выставлено на продажу.

Источник

Apple 1 computer built by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs sells for $400,000

But are your pockets deep enough?

The Apple I, as the name might imply, was the first computer sold by the company that now produces iPhones and Mac computers. Sold only as a system board, which required a separate keyboard and monitor, it was the machine that started it all. Now one of the few remaining Apple I computers in working condition is going up for auction, and it could sell for $500,000, if not more.

Update 1 ( 11/10/2021 @ 12:53 ET): The Apple I computer has sold for $400,000 at auction, according to Business Insider. The article as published on November 9, 2021, is preserved below.

“This fascinating piece of technological history is in mint condition, featuring many period-correct and original parts, and is in working order,” John Moran Auctioneers said on its website. “This Apple-1 has recently undergone an extensive authentication, restoration, and evaluation process. It contains all period-appropriate and original parts, and it is in working order! In addition to the motherboard, monitor, and keyboard, this lot is equipped with 2 cassette tapes, 3 wires, and a period xerox-copy of the original owner’s manual.”

Apple I computer up for auction

This specific Apple I computer is enclosed in a wooden case made from Koa wood, making it one of six known examples of Apple I computers with that type of case. According to the auctioneer, the computer had two owners — an electronics professor at Chaffey College, and a student who was taking the professor’s programming course and bought the Apple I from them. The seller will remain anonymous until the auction is complete.

The Apple I was powered by a 8-bit MOS 6502 processor (running at a whopping 1 MHz) with 4 KB of RAM, and was capable of displaying 40×24 characters with its bare-bones operating system. It was designed by Steve Wozniak, and only 200 units were hand-assembled by Wozniak and Steve Jobs before the Apple II replaced it in 1977. The Apple II went on to become one of the most popular computer lines of the late 1970s and early 1980s, and remained the company’s main source of revenue until the first Macintosh was introduced in 1984.

The Los Angeles Times reports that the computer could sell for close to $500,000, if not more, given another operational Apple I sold for $905,000 in 2014. The auction starts on Tuesday, November 9.

Photo credit: John Moran Auctioneers

Источник

‘First Apple computer’ sells for $815,000

A prototype Apple 1, a holy-grail item in electronics memorabilia, has been sold for $815,000 (ВЈ618,000).

Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built just 200 of the computers in 1976.

The model auctioned this week contains tell-tale signs that it is a prototype, probably made prior to its manufacturing run.

One computer historian says it is «one of the first, if not the first ever» Apple computer.

This «celebration edition» Apple 1 was expected to make $1m, but auctioneer Charitybuzz told the BBC that the final bid was $815,000.

That means it is not the highest-grossing Apple 1 computer — that distinction belongs to a rare working version that sold for $905,000 at a Bonhams auction in New York in October 2014.

A spokeswoman for Charitybuzz said that «about 80 bidders» had been watching the item. She denied reports that there had been a last-minute $1.2m bid, apparently made too late to be accepted.

Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, based in New York, Charitybuzz said.

The winning bidders, Glenn and Shannon Dellimore, said they want to take the computer into schools and universities to help inspire young people.

Mr Dellimore told the BBC: «It is incredible to think that this was most likely the very first Apple 1, the unicorn or holy grail of computers, the original very first prototype.»

‘Manually soldered’

No more than 70 Apple 1 computers are believed to still be in existence. The machine — initially named «Apple Computer 1» — first went on sale in July 1976, and was discontinued in October of the following year when the company turned its attention to building the Apple 2.

The «celebration edition» is different from the other Apple 1s because it was manually soldered on to a blank PC board, meaning it was not part of the only two production runs of the device.

Mr Wozniak was quoted by Charitybuzz as saying: «Only a few Apple 1s, on blank (not green) PC boards, may have been manually soldered, although I’m not sure of it.

«We arranged the wave soldering with the company that made the PC boards. But we may not have wanted to wave solder a run (of maybe 10 or more board) until we manually soldered one or two to debug them.»

Apple historian Corey Cohen, who assessed the machine, said in a promotional video that the celebration edition is «one of the first, if not the first, Apple computers because this appears to be one of the sample boards».

According to a timestamp on the PC board, it was made in the summer of 1976.

Garlanded history

Jobs, Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple on 1 April 1976 in California in the garage of Paul and Clara Jobs.

The trio’s first major project was the Apple 1 computer, which was first unveiled at the Homebrew Computer Club — a hobbyist group in Silicon Valley.

To help finance the machine’s production, Jobs sold his VW Microbus, while Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator for $500.

The Apple 1 went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66.

About 175 of the 200 units were sold, while the remaining units were destroyed.

Two weeks after Apple’s formation, Mr Wayne sold his 10% stake for $800.

The company’s annual revenue last year was $234bn.

Источник

Apple 1 computer and Steve Jobs Atari memo sold at auction

A rare functioning Apple 1 computer — the company’s first product — has been sold at an auction for $374,500 (ВЈ240,929).

The price was more than double Sotheby’s high estimate and sets a new record for the collector’s item.

A memo written by the firm’s co-founder Steve Jobs when he worked at Atari sold for $27,500 at the same New York event.

The original estimate for the four-page handwritten note was up to $15,000.

Only about 200 Apple 1s were ever created. The computers were hand-built by Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak and originally sold for $666.66 (ВЈ426) as a fully assembled circuit board.

He later said he picked a sum with a repeating number «because it was just an easier way to type».

Only about 50 Apple 1s are still believed to be in existence. The auctioned model is one of the very few that still works.

Sotheby’s said there was a battle between two parties for the item which also included the original manuals. A set of bids was executed by the auctioneer on behalf of an absentee collector, but a telephone bidder proved more persistent and eventually clinched the sale.

Their identity has not been revealed.

Buddhist mantra

The Atari memo was written in 1974 and consists of four pages detailing the late Steve Jobs’ thoughts on how to improve its arcade football game World Cup.

He was 19 years old at the time. The pages include circuit drawings and diagrams showing how the paddle-based game could be made more fun to play.

The notes are stamped with Mr Jobs’ Los Altos home address and a Buddhist mantra — «gate gate paragate parasangate bodhi svahdl».

It translates as: «Going, going, going on beyond, always going on beyond, always becoming Buddha.»

Sotheby’s said there had been «at least three bidders» for the item.

The high sums are the latest confirmation of demand for memorabilia connected to Steve Jobs, who died last October.

Apple’s founding papers, featuring Mr Jobs’ signature, sold at auction in December for close to $1.6m.

Источник

Apple’s original computer fetches $400,000 at US auction

An original Apple computer built by firm co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs in 1976 has fetched $400,000 (ВЈ294,990) at auction in the US.

The rare Hawaiian koa wood-cased Apple-1 — still functioning — is one of only 200 made and sold in kit form.

The computer has only had two owners, a college professor and his student to whom he sold the machine for $650, said John Moran Auctioneers in California.

The sale included user manuals and Apple software on two cassette tapes.

«This is kind of the holy grail for vintage electronics and computer tech collectors,» Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen told the Los Angeles Times ahead of Tuesday’s auction in the city of Monrovia, near Los Angeles.

«That really makes it exciting for a lot of people.»

The koa wood case of the auctioned model was added by a pioneering early computer retailer, ByteShop, in California, which took delivery of around 50 of the Apple-1 machines.

Jobs, Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple on 1 April 1976 in a garage in California.

To help finance the Apple 1 production, Jobs sold his VW Microbus, while Wozniak sold his HP-65 calculator for $500.

In 1976, the machines were sold for $666.66, reportedly because Wozniak liked repeating numbers.

It is believed there are around 20 such computers in the world still capable of functioning.

The auctioned machine is not the highest-grossing Apple-1 computer — that distinction belongs to a working version that sold for $905,000 at a Bonhams auction in New York in 2014.

Источник