Woman dumps rare Apple I worth $200,000 at recycling center
A Bay Area recycling center is attempting to track down an unidentified woman who dropped off a 1976-model Apple I in April, after the computer sold to a private collector for $200,000 this month.
The computer was one of the first batch of 200 hand-assembled by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne in the company's first year of operation. The woman is being sought because it is the center's policy to split sale proceeds with donors, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
"We are looking for her to give her $100,000," Clean Bay Area vice president Victor Gichun told the paper.
"She said, 'I want to get rid of this stuff and clean up my garage,'" Gichun added. "I said, 'Do you need a tax receipt?' and she said, 'No, I don't need anything.'"
The Apple I was Apple's first product, and famously cost $666.66 when it was introduced in 1976. It has become one of the most sought-after Silicon Valley artifacts in recent hears, with a working model selling for $905,000 at auction last fall.
The computer was one of the first batch of 200 hand-assembled by Apple co-founders Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ron Wayne in the company's first year of operation. The woman is being sought because it is the center's policy to split sale proceeds with donors, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
"We are looking for her to give her $100,000," Clean Bay Area vice president Victor Gichun told the paper.
"She said, 'I want to get rid of this stuff and clean up my garage,'" Gichun added. "I said, 'Do you need a tax receipt?' and she said, 'No, I don't need anything.'"
The Apple I was Apple's first product, and famously cost $666.66 when it was introduced in 1976. It has become one of the most sought-after Silicon Valley artifacts in recent hears, with a working model selling for $905,000 at auction last fall.
Comments
I wonder what the old Altair 8800s are going for? Or the original IBM PCs or any of the early personal computers? Some claim Apple has been irrelevant and unimportant from the beginning and didn’t invent anything worthwhile.
I don't think they should have sold it and then tried to find her to give her half the money. It was clearly a mistake giving it away, so they should have just put it aside and tried to contact her and give it back whole.
She's my mum. Give it to me and I'll pass it on for you.
The representative says he knows the woman’s face and will recognize her.
There's nothing like getting Friday's news on Monday morning...
Do you work weekends? No? Then don't expect others to either.
There's nothing like getting Friday's news on Monday morning...
Apparently there's nothing like commenting on Friday's news on Monday morning, either...Do you work weekends? No? Then don't expect others to either.
Wouldn't it help to know that I do plenty of work for my employer on the weekend before saying something silly like that?
Besides, AI posted 3 articles on Saturday and 3 more on Sunday, so the argument doesn't hold much water. Thanks for playing though.
Well the guy knows her face.
How can it be clearly a mistake? Not everyone knows the Apple I is worth money.
Seems like an honest company but why did they auction it BEFORE contacting the lady??
Probably because they didn't realize the full value of the thing, and because the woman assured them it was junk and she wanted to be rid of it. Probably only after bids at auction rose over the $20 mark did they realize they had a policy to adhere to, and by then it was too late.
Seems like an honest company but why did they auction it BEFORE contacting the lady??
Probably a mistake on the part of the recycling company. Perhaps an overly ambitious manager knew it was valuable and sold it but once the owner discovered the issue it was too late, so he tried to do the right thing, sort of... Instead of offering half he should be offering the full amount minus maybe 10% for handling. Rightfully, it belonged to the recycling company but they didn't want to create a bad reputation so they reverted to what is probably their default consignment agreement.
Besides, AI posted 3 articles on Saturday and 3 more on Sunday, so the argument doesn't hold much water. Thanks for playing though.
It was a local California news story over the weekend. Major news sources are just picking it up this morning. How did you hear about it? Are you in Prague?
The irony is that in California, especially the Bay Area, people have the sense to send unwanted electronics to the recycling center, because they know the metals and such are harmful to the environment, instead of just tossing it in the trash like the rest of the world usually does.
That as my first thought. That said at least they are contacting her and I suspect they have no legal obligation here (lawyers please chime in). Every time I read someone finds a valuable object in the likes of Good Will, I don't read they offer half to the donor.
Actually it's probably the law rather than common sense.
Actually it's probably the law rather than common sense.
You're right, it is the law, but that doesn't usually make any difference to a lot of people. They throw away all kinds of recyclable items which is why, in our city at least, they don't trust you and they go through all of your household trash looking for recyclables because the waste disposal contractor is under a mandate by their contract with the city to reduce land fill waste x%, hence they go through the trash. We are really careful about separating our recyclables but we still got tagged once. They actually inspected our trash in the barrel on the curb on trash day. They also don't provide recycle containers for the city sidewalks or dumpsters for businesses here, so that is another reason they sort the trash.
I guess it was Saturday then, but I saw it in my Google News feed and thought it was on Friday. I am in Prague and occasionally glance over Google News in Czech, but mostly I have it set to the USA.