Apple-1 Ad Handwritten by Steve Jobs Sells for Over $175,000

[MacRumors]

An Apple-1 advertisement that was written by Steve Jobs recently sold for $175,759 at an auction hosted by RR Auction. The ad is a rough draft with specifications for the Apple-1 machine, along with information on the details that Jobs wanted to include.

"Board only + manual, $75. A real deal" reads a part of the advertisement that Jobs wrote out. Jobs' signature is included, and the address listed is his parents' house, which is where Apple started out.

The handwritten draft matches the original advertisement for the Apple-1, with the first ad published in the July 1976 edition of Interface Magazine. The ad is accompanied by two Polaroid photos of Apple-1 machines taken at The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California. Jobs annotated one of the images, noting that it was "fuzzy because camera wiggled."

The ad copy was put up for sale by a close friend of Steve Jobs that was present during the Apple-1's developmental phase. He was gifted the items as cherished keepsakes.

Separately, an operational Apple-1 Computer signed by Steve Wozniak sold for $223,520, and a 1976 Apple Computer check signed by Jobs and Wozniak sold for $135,261.

Article Link: Apple-1 Ad Handwritten by Steve Jobs Sells for Over $175,000

 

[vegetassj4]

Wow, an engineering pad (paper)...brings back the good ole undergrad days.

 

[Pakaku]

I like the irony in a paper that says “$75, a real deal” selling for over 2.4k times that amount

 

[Born Again]

can you guys imagine how much a Steve Jobs hand written memo would fetch if it said the following :

“You’re holding it wrong.”

I’d throw in a bid!

 

[CD Player]

People with too much money out doing other people with too much money.

Enjoy that $175,759 piece of paper!

 

[Bodhitree]

Modern art can look worse and be less significant.

 

[gpat]

I like the irony in a paper that says “$75, a real deal” selling for over 2.4k times that amount

I'm confused, what did $75 buy you? Didn't the board-only Apple I cost $666.66?

 

[daanodinot]

You know we've come a long way when the unit used is "bytes".

 

[CD Player]

You know we've come a long way when the unit used is "bytes".

That price point is “byting“ 🥁

 

[ChrisA]

People with too much money out doing other people with too much money.

Enjoy that $175,759 piece of paper!

This paper is likely a better long-term investment than Bitcoin. It is very rare. Jobs is never going to write another first advertisement.

But will it hold value? 100 years from now, no one will be alive who remembers Steve Jobs. Jobs will be a historic figure, not a memory. Does this make the paper more or less valuable? The paper is an investment, but not one without risk. It might go up by a factor of ten or could lose most of its value.

How much would you pay today for a memo written and signed by Herman Hollerith? Herman Hollerith was arguably even more important in the history of founding computer companies than was Steve Jobs. Herman Hollerith invented the very idea of modern computing, Job only took an existing idea and run with it.

In 200 years, Jobs and Hollerith might be seen as peers and known only to historians.

BTW, Herman Hollerith, invented the punched card and data processing in the 1880s and founded a company called "IBM". He got his "big break" by winning a contact from the US Government to process US Census data and recalculate congressional districts, among other things. I think this was the 1890 census, Then 90 years later in 1981 his company released the "IBM PC" and invented personal computing. Today's tower PCs still look like the old 1980s PC turned to stand on one side.

 

[CD Player]

This paper is likely a better long-term investment than Bitcoin. It is very rare. Jobs is never going to write another first advertisement.

But will it hold value? 100 years from now no one will be alive who remembers Steve Jobs. Jobs will be a historic figure, not a memory. Does this make the paper more or less valuable? The paper is an investment but not one without risk. It might go up by a factor of ten or could loose most of its value.

Ok Ok relax it was a social commentary and joke. No need to write a dissertation. I am well aware.

 

[KaliYoni]

I love how the ad is written on engineering paper...maybe Woz had a pad lying around the garage? The latter day Jobs probably would have insisted on a rare, handmade paper from a Living National Treasure in rural Japan.
;-)

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This paper is likely a better long-term investment than Bitcoin. It is very rare. Jobs is never going to write another first advertisement.

But will it hold value? 100 years from now, no one will be alive who remembers Steve Jobs. Jobs will be a historic figure, not a memory. Does this make the paper more or less valuable? The paper is an investment, but not one without risk. It might go up by a factor of ten or could lose most of its value.

How much would you pay today for a memo written and signed by Herman Hollerith? Herman Hollerith was arguably even more important in the history of founding computer companies than was Steve Jobs. Herman Hollerith invented the very idea of modern computing, Job only took an existing idea and run with it.

In 200 years, Jobs and Hollerith might be seen as peers and known only to historians.

BTW, Herman Hollerith, invented the punched card and data processing in the 1880s and founded a company called "IBM". He got his "big break" by winning a contact from the US Government to process US Census data and recalculate congressional districts, among other things. I think this was the 1890 census, Then 90 years later in 1981 his company released the "IBM PC" and invented personal computing. Today's tower PCs still look like the old 1980s PC turned to stand on one side.

Your post about how quickly "we" forget brought to mind this classic which cracks me up every time I watch it...

 

[klasma]

That price is higher than all of the originally sold Apple-1s combined. That ad really paid off.

 

[klasma]

I'm confused, what did $75 buy you? Didn't the board-only Apple I cost $666.66?

Probably the bare board without components.

Incidentally, the cassette interface was also $75:

 

[filchermcurr]

The ad copy was put up for sale by a close friend of Steve Jobs that was present during the Apple-1's developmental phase. He was gifted the items as cherished keepsakes.

I see he really cherished these keepsakes.

 

[macduke]

No wonder it took him so long to add video to the iPod. He didn't know how to spell "vidio."

 

[Glideslope]

More 1st world Bull****.

 

[Lioness~]

Some silly people think they will access his intelligence by having some of his handwriting.
Like teens chasing for autographs by famous people.
I can’t blame teens, I got some interesting autographs at that age too 😂
But fully grownups 😳

 

[JosephAW]

Remember using an Atari 600/800 xl with the 6502 with basic and assembly language and a 5.35" floppy.
Bought an amber display from radio shack and hot wired it into the video display chip instead of the tv RF output connector resulting in better quality.

Interestingly enough the 68000 chip was later adopted as the main CPU yet they continued to use the 6502 for a long while as the floppy controller on the Macintosh computers.

 

[The_Auryn]

I wonder who owns the house and garage where Steve Jobs built the Apple 1? You would think that would go for a $$$ at auction.

 

[Shirasaki]

Some silly people think they will access his intelligence by having some of his handwriting.
Like teens chasing for autographs by famous people.
I can’t blame teens, I got some interesting autographs at that age too 😂
But fully grownups 😳

Plot twist: paper is won by a teenager who somehow got a lot of money through parents or they won something. And that teenager cherish Steve Jobs handwriting.

 

[Lioness~]

I wonder who owns the house and garage where Steve Jobs built the Apple 1? You would think that would go for a $$$ at auction.

Google says below if you Ask that question/ as of 2013 though.

Patricia Jobs

The home is currently owned by Patricia Jobs, Steve Jobs' sister. Jobs' stepmother, Marilyn Jobs, still lives in the house. Tourists stop by on a weekly basis to take pictures, and the goal of the historical designation is to preserve the home as it looked in the 1970s.28 okt. 2013

 

[svish]

Huge amount for anything collectable!! Not surprised

 

[lovehateapple]

I would really love to see apple buying these historical pieces, but only if they go into an apple museum that is open to the public.