Apple one computer sold

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.

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Original working Apple-I computer fetches $375,000 at auction

Dave Lee
North America technology reporter

25 September 2018

An Apple-I computer, the first product made by the computing giant, has sold at auction for $375,000 (ВЈ230,000).

The machine was designed by Steve Wozniak, known as Woz, the co-founder of Apple.

His business partner, Steve Jobs, convinced him to package and sell the machine — it went on sale in 1976 for $666.66.

It is one of only a handful of fully-functioning models known to be in existence today.

«The Apple-I was ghastly underpowered compared to the Apple-II,» said Mr Wozniak in an email to the BBC on Tuesday.

«But this Apple-I computer showed the world the formula for an affordable USEFUL computer.»

‘Behave like it’s 1976’

The auction took place in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday. The buyer was an «anonymous businessman» who placed his bid online.

It is estimated that Mr Wozniak and Mr Jobs sold around 200 Apple-I computers in just under a year, thanks to a deal with a local computing store in Palo Alto, California.

According to an online registry — not affiliated with Apple — there are just 79 of the computers still around.

«It’s a marvellous piece — and this one works!» said Bobby Livingston, of RR Auctions.

‘Never out of the book’ — How the Apple- I was built

By Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple, speaking to the BBC

«The Apple-I was an important device that was scraped together very quickly from a homebuilt terminal. The terminal (keyboard and TV) were created to access the early long distance network, Arpanet, and it could only handle 60 data bytes per second, due to modem speeds then, whereas the microprocessor could access 100,000 data bytes per second. Hence the Apple-I was ghastly underpowered compared to the Apple-II, but this Apple-I computer showed the world, starting with the Homebrew Computer Club members, the formula for an affordable USEFUL computer.

«I gave my designs away for free at the Homebrew Computer Club. My belief in how computers could help with education led me to plead with Steve Jobs to give the first Apple-I to a woman in our club, Liza Loop, the first Apple-I to possibly take into elementary school classrooms to show the students what a computer was. Steve made me buy it (from us) for $300 — and I gave it to Liza myself.

«We might have made 150 Apple-I boards. Steve Jobs handled the business of the Apple-I and we actually built up a bank account of about $12,000. It was my idea to price it at $666.66. So few of these boards are known that the scarcity gives them high value.

«It’s fair to say that the Apple-I was the first personal computer, depending on how you define ‘personal’. The Apple-I and Apple-II took steps that had never been taken before.

«It’s how I did things, never out of the book.»

«Our experts tell us that there might be 15 in the world that work properly. You can power this thing up and behave like it’s 1976. It’s pretty fantastic.»

The Apple-I holds a place in technology history as the first computer to not require any assembly, other than to plug in a monitor and keyboard.

Award for Ive

The Apple-I provided just a glimpse of what was to come. Mr Wozniak’s follow up, the Apple-II range, went on to sell more than 5 million units, putting Apple on its course to become the most valuable company in US history.

In August, Apple’s value surpassed $1tn for the first time, spurred by sales of the iPhone.

British designer Sir Jony Ive, who along with Mr Jobs designed the iPhone, was announced on Tuesday as the recipient of the Professor Hawking Fellowship by the Cambridge Union.

The fellowship programme was set up in 2017 to highlight the legacy of Prof Stephen Hawking, who died in March.

As part of the fellowship, Sir Jony will address the Cambridge Union at a date not yet made public.

«The Hawking Committee are of the opinion that Sir Jony’s work and patents have played a pivotal role in shaping Apple’s successes over the last two decades,» the Cambridge Union said.

«His undoubted technological expertise, coupled with his remarkable role in championing elegant & innovative design on a global stage have made Sir Jony uniquely qualified to receive this Fellowship.»

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A rare, original Apple-1 computer just sold for an unbelievable price

An extremely rare Apple-1 computer, first made in the 1970s, was recently sold at auction for an astounding $500,000.

The Apple-1 purchased at auction for half a million dollars is only one of six made that were constructed with a Koa wood case. In total, only 200 Apple-1s were created; 175 of them went for an eerie price of $666.66, which Apple cofounder Stave Wozniak created in his head to pay homage to his love for repeating numbers. To add to the scarcity, 50 of them were purchased by Paul Terrell, owner of ByteShop, located in Mountain View, California.

The ancient Apple computer sold at auction features a keyboard developed by Datanetics, an Apple-1 power supply, a Panasonic monitor, and all of the original pieces included with the computer itself, like a programming manual.

According to the auction listing by John Moran Auctioneers, this Apple-1 computer was originally purchased by an electronics professor at Chaffey College for an unknown price.

Later on, the professor sold the Apple-1 to one of his students for $650, which sounds awfully cheap for an Apple product. But $650 in 1977 equates to $2,966.71 in 2021.

Prior to the auction, Corey Cohen, an Apple-1 expert, explained to the the Los Angeles Times why the historic computer was generating so much buzz. “This is kind of the holy grail for vintage electronics and computer tech collectors … That really makes it exciting for a lot of people.”

Recently, the appeal of the Apple-1 skyrocketed as an eBay listing for another authentic wood case model earned 12 watchers in 24 hours, but this time the Apple-1 is listing for $1.5 million. Even though that model is $1 million dollars more, it alone has over 2,300 watchers on its eBay listing, so enthusiasts are still very much interested.

This isn’t the first time an Apple-1 hit the auction floor for an exorbitant price; in 2014, an Apple-1 motherboard with a keyboard and power supply was sold at auction for over $900,000 but that one didn’t come fully assembled.

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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.

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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.

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