 |
| Apple I computer sells for $500,000 |
One of the first 200 Apple computers to be auctioned off at John Moran's auction this week. The Apple I computer, handcrafted by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, was purchased for $500,000.
This computer is housed in a wooden box. It is one of about 60 Apple I computers out there.
Several Apple I computers have been sold at similar prices over the past 10 years. In 2014, auction house Bonhams Apple I sold for more than $900,000.
The Apple I computer was originally priced at $666.66, which means that the price this week is 750 times the original price.
Buyers remain anonymous. However, the Los Angeles Times reported that a representative from the auction house said the computer appeared to be leaving the United States.
The Apple I occupies an important place in the history of personal computing. It's one of the first products from a new company operating out of Jobs' house. Apple is one of the most valuable companies in the world today.
2021 is Apple's 45th anniversary. The world's largest technology company is currently worth about $1,000 billion.
The company was founded through a collaboration between Wozniak and Jobs and the development of Apple Computer 1 (commonly known as Apple-1) in a jobs garage.
Wozniak designed an Apple computer and wanted to sell it to Jobs
The company was founded in 1976 when electronics engineer Steve Wozniak worked with marketing expert and industrial designer Steve Jobs.
The 200 Apple I computers were designed by Steve Wozniak and assembled and tested by Steve Jobs and his sisters Patty Jobs and Daniel Kotke in the Jobs home.
175 of those sold for $666.66. Fifty of the 175 computers were sold to Paul Terrell, owner of ByteShop in Mountain View, California.
When Jobs handed over 50 boxes of hardware, each containing an Apple I suit, Terrell was disappointed. He wanted an integrated computing unit that could be connected at any time, which was still unknown at the time.
However, Jobs assures him that each box contains all the necessary items for a fully functional computer. He also convinced Terrell ByteShop to make money selling keyboards, monitors and power supplies.
The device was sold to only two people, originally bought by an electronics professor at Chaffee College in Rancho Cucamonga, California and then sold to his students in 1977 for $650.