Sotheby's to Auction Apple 1 Computer in June
If you missed out on bidding and winning an Apple 1 computer that was sold for $213,600 in 2010 by Christie's, you will have another chance next month.
Sotheby's is listing a slightly less desirable Apple 1 as lot 57 for its June 15 auction.
The computer, rather a circuit board, was manufactured in 1976 and is offered complete with a MOS 6502 8-bit, 1 MHz CPU. Included are the cassette interface, which was a $75 option for the base board that sold for $666.66, the operation manual for the Apple 1, as well as a preliminary Apple BASIC user manual. Sotheby's estimates the value of the system at $120,000 to $180,000.
Only about 50 of the originally sold 200 systems are still believed to have survived until today. Italian collector Marco Boglione bought an Apple 1 in November 2010 at a Christie's auction. That lot also came with the original invoice as well as a personal letter from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
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Douglas Perry was a freelance writer for Tom's Hardware covering semiconductors, storage technology, quantum computing, and processor power delivery. He has authored several books and is currently an editor for The Oregonian/OregonLive.
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chewy1963 Is it a coincidence that Apple's very first product sold for $666.66?. Can you say 'deal with the Devil'? LOLReply -
beardguy I can understand maybe picking one up if they were cheap for nostalgic reasons, but you have to be a true Apple fanboy and extremely rich to be dumb enough to buy something like this for a few hundred grand.Reply
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scannall There are collectors for just about everything. If I had a pile of money it might be interesting. As would an original Altair, and maybe a Northstar. Some others to collect are a lot cheaper. I'd love an original Amiga, I just keep forgetting to check eBay.Reply -
beardguy @scannallReply
Thing is those computers aren't that old, and neither is this one. Maybe a computer from the early 1900's or something would be a cool collectible. But not this shit from the late 70's and 80's. At least, not for top dollar. -
gwolfman Once again I'd be paying too much for Apple-blessed hardware that does less than my current PC.Reply
/sarcasm (for those who just don't get it) -
zak_mckraken gwolfmanOnce again I'd be paying too much for Apple-blessed hardware that does less than my current PC./sarcasm (for those who just don't get it)Well, you're actually right, so it's not sarcasm.Reply -
rosen380 Have you seen what rare/old cars sell for? A new car, is generally faster, safer, quieter, handles better, better equipped, more comfortable, warrantied, better for the environment, easier to get parts for and have serviced, etc.Reply
Those old cars are worth what they sell for because of the rarity, not because they are better than modern cars.