A rare piece of Apple history will go on sale later this month when Christie's auctions Apple's first product, the Apple I personal computer, for an estimated $160,000-$240,000 on Nov. 23.
The Apple I, acknowledged by many as the first "personal computer," was Apple's first product offering. Approximately 200 units were hand-built by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and priced at $666.66. With a completely pre-assembled motherboard, the computer helped to spark the home computer revolution when it was released in July 1976.
High-end auction house Christie's is selling a "superb example" of the Apple I, with an estimate ranging from $160,000-$240,000. Even at the low end of the estimate, the computer will sell for over 60 times its original cost, approximately $2,500 after adjusting for inflation.
Apple I units have become quite the collector's item, with an estimated 30 to 50 still in existence. In 1999, an Apple I reportedly sold for $50,000.
Source: Christie's
The auction includes the Apple I in its original shipping box and the Apple I cassette interface, as well as a signed letter from Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. The return address on the original packaging shows that the unit shipped from Jobs' parents' house.
Christie's will sell the Apple I as part of a larger Nov. 23 London auction including a cypher machine, a first edition presentation copy of a publication by Charles Babbage, and a variety of other "valuable printed books and manuscripts.
Apple's unique role in the history of computing and the loyal following it has acquired have driven sales of pieces of Apple history before. In October, the owner of The Mac Museum of New Jersey sold a large collection of vintage Macs on eBay for $10,000. In 2008, an early engineering worker at Apple auctioned off the company's original trade show sign and Wozniak's toolbox.
The person who buys this has a lot of money to burn on nonsense instead of giving it to a reputable charity where it can do a lot of good for people in today's horrific economy.
The person who buys this has a lot of money to burn on nonsense instead of giving it to a reputable charity where it can do a lot of good for people in today's horrific economy.
i wont argue the point, as long as you have the same disdain for people who buy $20 million paintings, $150,000 cars, million dollar houses.
also, remember that poor people existed, as will exist, outside the "horrific economy"... are you in favor of this money being spent in a "good" economy, which has potentially more heavily downtrodden poor people...
Typical overpriced Apple, you can get a netbook for $300 without paying the Apple tax.
P.S. I wish I'd kept my Mac Plus, my wife threw it away, the mouse was held together with Bluetac and string and it worked (well sort of if you hit the side, ju-ust right you could get the monitor to go from a small dot in the centre of the screen to displaying a desktop).
I still have my first Mac, the venerable Mac Plus. It still works like new; but I last used it around 1993 in business for anything serious. Can't bring myself to sell it although I've sold quite a few others and given away a few.
A rare piece of Apple history will go on sale later this month when Christie's auctions Apple's first product, the Apple I personal computer, for an estimated $160,000-$240,000 on Nov. 23.
IMO, this is very, very cool. I'm glad that this sort of history is revered and preserved.,
I still have my first Mac, the venerable Mac Plus. It still works like new; but I last used it around 1993 in business for anything serious. Can't bring myself to sell it although I've sold quite a few others and given away a few.
I Still have my original 128K Mac and an extra motherboard that I modified to give it a whopping 512K (and replaced the original ROMs with EEPROM copies of the 'new' ROMs). Sold the Plus I owned - had upgraded it to a 68020 and 4 Meg RAM ( I think at that point one meg SIMMs were approx. $250.00 EACH. I had to sell it so I could afford my Mac II with a RGB monitor (and a free kong monitor). The Mac II easily cost $5000 even with my discount at the TAMU Bookstore Micro Center.
I managed to get most of the money I put into them back out (with student or developers discount prices) - with one exception. I had a brand new LaserWriter II NTX with max'd out RAM (12 Megs if memory serves me correctly). I needed it for a page layout program I was working on as a consultant. I purchased one and they reimbursed me for it (told me to keep it when the project was cancelled a few months later). I remember very well the $7000 price tag on that printer! A few years later it started acting up and after a little diagnosis I found out that it needed a new motherboard. The part cost around $300 (in 1998) but since printer prices had really started to go down I decided to see if it was worth putting that much into it to repair it. The printer wasn't even worth the more than $300 it would have cost to repair it.
Have a pile of other Apple stuff also - my wife keeps wanting me to get rid of it but I've managed to hold on to most everything I really wanted to keep though.
I would have loved to have owned one of the Apple I computers - wasn't able to afford it then and don't have the bucks for one now either. (I helped a friend build an IMSAI around that time - which I would love to have now also - but given the choice the Apple I would be my first choice.)
"The return address on the original packaging shows that the unit shipped from Jobs' parents' house"
Awwww!!! That's just too cute!
How great that such a thing still exists to put a personal face on the start of a mega corporation. And how amazing that the founder is still at the helm of a company doing great stuff!
Fan or not, Apple is ultimately about one thing -- quality.
I've got a classic Mac IIsi that I'll let go for a steal of $10,000.
And if you're interested in that, I have a seriously classic Quadra 800 for $12,500 and an 8500 with a G4 upgrade card for the low, low price of $7500.
Get all three for $25,000! Plus I'll throw in free monitors!
Today's Special: Powerbook 540c with the PPC upgrade card. Only $6000!
Comments
Well, Apple enthusiasts see where I'm coming from.
Am I losing money? Alas, not anymore.
Do so kindly, go troll anywhere else...
A rare piece of Apple history will go on sale later this month when Christie's auctions Apple's first product, the Apple I personal computer, for an estimated $160,000-$240,000 on Nov. 23.
The Apple I, acknowledged by many as the first "personal computer," was Apple's first product offering. Approximately 200 units were hand-built by Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak and priced at $666.66. With a completely pre-assembled motherboard, the computer helped to spark the home computer revolution when it was released in July 1976.
High-end auction house Christie's is selling a "superb example" of the Apple I, with an estimate ranging from $160,000-$240,000. Even at the low end of the estimate, the computer will sell for over 60 times its original cost, approximately $2,500 after adjusting for inflation.
Apple I units have become quite the collector's item, with an estimated 30 to 50 still in existence. In 1999, an Apple I reportedly sold for $50,000.
Source: Christie's
The auction includes the Apple I in its original shipping box and the Apple I cassette interface, as well as a signed letter from Apple cofounder Steve Jobs. The return address on the original packaging shows that the unit shipped from Jobs' parents' house.
Christie's will sell the Apple I as part of a larger Nov. 23 London auction including a cypher machine, a first edition presentation copy of a publication by Charles Babbage, and a variety of other "valuable printed books and manuscripts.
Apple's unique role in the history of computing and the loyal following it has acquired have driven sales of pieces of Apple history before. In October, the owner of The Mac Museum of New Jersey sold a large collection of vintage Macs on eBay for $10,000. In 2008, an early engineering worker at Apple auctioned off the company's original trade show sign and Wozniak's toolbox.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
The person who buys this has a lot of money to burn on nonsense instead of giving it to a reputable charity where it can do a lot of good for people in today's horrific economy.
The person who buys this has a lot of money to burn on nonsense instead of giving it to a reputable charity where it can do a lot of good for people in today's horrific economy.
i wont argue the point, as long as you have the same disdain for people who buy $20 million paintings, $150,000 cars, million dollar houses.
also, remember that poor people existed, as will exist, outside the "horrific economy"... are you in favor of this money being spent in a "good" economy, which has potentially more heavily downtrodden poor people...
Typical overpriced Apple, you can get a netbook for $300 without paying the Apple tax.
P.S. I wish I'd kept my Mac Plus, my wife threw it away, the mouse was held together with Bluetac and string and it worked (well sort of if you hit the side, ju-ust right you could get the monitor to go from a small dot in the centre of the screen to displaying a desktop).
I still have my first Mac, the venerable Mac Plus. It still works like new; but I last used it around 1993 in business for anything serious. Can't bring myself to sell it although I've sold quite a few others and given away a few.
A rare piece of Apple history will go on sale later this month when Christie's auctions Apple's first product, the Apple I personal computer, for an estimated $160,000-$240,000 on Nov. 23.
IMO, this is very, very cool. I'm glad that this sort of history is revered and preserved.,
I still have my first Mac, the venerable Mac Plus. It still works like new; but I last used it around 1993 in business for anything serious. Can't bring myself to sell it although I've sold quite a few others and given away a few.
I Still have my original 128K Mac and an extra motherboard that I modified to give it a whopping 512K (and replaced the original ROMs with EEPROM copies of the 'new' ROMs). Sold the Plus I owned - had upgraded it to a 68020 and 4 Meg RAM ( I think at that point one meg SIMMs were approx. $250.00 EACH. I had to sell it so I could afford my Mac II with a RGB monitor (and a free kong monitor). The Mac II easily cost $5000 even with my discount at the TAMU Bookstore Micro Center.
I managed to get most of the money I put into them back out (with student or developers discount prices) - with one exception. I had a brand new LaserWriter II NTX with max'd out RAM (12 Megs if memory serves me correctly). I needed it for a page layout program I was working on as a consultant. I purchased one and they reimbursed me for it (told me to keep it when the project was cancelled a few months later). I remember very well the $7000 price tag on that printer! A few years later it started acting up and after a little diagnosis I found out that it needed a new motherboard. The part cost around $300 (in 1998) but since printer prices had really started to go down I decided to see if it was worth putting that much into it to repair it. The printer wasn't even worth the more than $300 it would have cost to repair it.
Have a pile of other Apple stuff also - my wife keeps wanting me to get rid of it but I've managed to hold on to most everything I really wanted to keep though.
I would have loved to have owned one of the Apple I computers - wasn't able to afford it then and don't have the bucks for one now either. (I helped a friend build an IMSAI around that time - which I would love to have now also - but given the choice the Apple I would be my first choice.)
Awwww!!! That's just too cute!
How great that such a thing still exists to put a personal face on the start of a mega corporation. And how amazing that the founder is still at the helm of a company doing great stuff!
Fan or not, Apple is ultimately about one thing -- quality.
And if you're interested in that, I have a seriously classic Quadra 800 for $12,500 and an 8500 with a G4 upgrade card for the low, low price of $7500.
Get all three for $25,000! Plus I'll throw in free monitors!
Today's Special: Powerbook 540c with the PPC upgrade card. Only $6000!
There are a lot of people out here who are
after this rare item. It's hard to imagine
hand building a computer from scratch, especially
back then.