Rare Working Apple-1 Computer With Cassette Interface Board Hits eBay

[MacRumors]

A rare functional Apple-1 Personal Computer has popped up on eBay this week after its owner decided to downsize his Apple collection. The Apple-1 computer, called the Copson Apple-1 by its current owner, is one of less than 50 known machines in existence. Apple-1 computers are popular with collectors as they were the first computers produced by Apple and were sold by Steve Jobs out of his parents' garage in 1976.

Originally retailing for $666.66, the Apple-1 in the auction was purchased by Joey Copson and held in the same family for more than 36 years. Bob Luther, who was writing a book on a separate Apple-1 computer, came across the Copson Apple-1 during his research and purchased it from Copson's family.

According to the auction, the Apple-1 was recently serviced and turned on by computer historian Corey Cohen, and it includes an Apple-1 Cassette board accessory. It comes with a date-stamped keyboard and a clam shell case supplied by the original owner. The Copson Apple-1 was originally placed up for auction in 2012 in a non-working condition where it didn't meet the minimum bid, but was later refurbished and repaired.

"The Copson board is an 8 out of 10..." and, "Late in 2014, I was asked to bring the Copson Apple-1 setup back to working state. In the process of my evaluation, the Copson Apple-1 board was chemically stabilized and cleaned. I took extreme care to keep all the discrete components on the board original by performing some minor repairs instead of replacing components unnecessarily, maintaining its originality. The Copson Apple-1 has no cuts, repairs or modifications to the PCB board.

The Datanetics keyboard was completely refurbished, the original Apple Cassette Interface was refurbished and the original power supply made safe and operational.

The Copson Apple-1 is unique due to the futuristic custom plastic case that Joe Copson placed it in. The case appears oddly similar in design to what would be used later by the early Apple II. The distinctive jumper wiring also performed by Joe Copson when he later purchased the Apple Cassette Interface, can also be used to uniquely identify and confirm this is the Copson Apple-1 board from other early Byte Shop Apple-1s that also predate the Apple Cassette Interface's availability."

The Copson Apple-1 is labeled as 01-0022, suggesting that it's potentially an earlier build than other Apple-1 machines that have sold for more money, including a working Apple-1 that sold for $905,000 to the Henry Ford Museum back in October. That machine was numbered "01-0070."

There's no reserve price on the Apple-1 auction, but bidders must be pre-approved. The current bid is at $20,600 and the auction ends in eight days.

Luther is also auctioning off a few other rare Apple items, including an early production Apple II computer. 10 percent of the proceeds from the auctions will go to the ALS Association.

Article Link: Rare Working Apple-1 Computer With Cassette Interface Board Hits eBay

 

[ttss6]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

 

[Traverse]

Does it run iMovie!?

 

[furi0usbee]

 

[C DM]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

Probably not the types who would be interested in those types of computers (at that time) anyway.

 

[nagromme]

Wait for 2nd gen.

 

[badNameErr]

I love the use of an iPod as the "cassette player". How modern.

 

[CFreymarc]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

You must remember the time of the build of this machine. The mid to late 1970's was the height of "shock rock" and the maturing of Heavy Metal. Satanic images and euphemisms were all the rage of the youth community to freak out their parents. This is just another sign of their times. Only a hardcore fundamentist it's can't see through the symbolism to see the real rhetoric here.

 

[rramon]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

christian fundamentalists maybe – a lot of them live in the U.S. nowadays.

 

[refreshingsolut]

Holy smokes! I wonder what that will go for? Any idea?

 

[jayducharme]

This is just another sign of their times.

It's also a sign of Jobs' and Wozniak's sense of humor. Jobs priced it that way specifically because it was taboo.

 

[furi0usbee]

You must remember the time of the build of this machine. The mid to late 1970's was the height of "shock rock" and the maturing of Heavy Metal. Satanic images and euphemisms were all the rage of the youth community to freak out their parents. This is just another sign of their times. Only a hardcore fundamentist it's can't see through the symbolism to see the real rhetoric here.

If you believe Steve Jobs, he said he didn't know that 666 was the sign of the devil. But I find that hard to believe, at least that nobody around him told him as much.

 

[TheRealTVGuy]

This is a prime example of why investing in 1st Gen Apple technology pays off. (I'm looking at YOU, unopened AppleWatch.)

Ahh.. now to sit back and wait for the naysayers to tell me there's no comparison. "Limited amount of Apple 1s, MILLIONS of AppleWatches, etc..."

 

[Intelligent]

How many of these are there even left?

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If you believe Steve Jobs, he said he didn't know that 666 was the sign of the devil. But I find that hard to believe, at least that nobody around him told him as much.

I heard Steve Wozniak priced it $666.666 because he liked repeating numbers..

 

[furi0usbee]

How many of these are there even left?

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I heard Steve Wozniak priced it $666.666 because he liked repeating numbers..

I forget which book it was where it said Jobs had no idea of the meaning of 666. But I don't recall who actually came up with the price. I remember thinking, who doesn't know 666?

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It could have been iWoz I heard Jobs didn't know what 666 meant, or maybe both of them didn't know?... Woz takes credit for inventing everything from sliced bread to the first PC in iWoz, so he probably said he chose the price based on something. Listening to iWoz was so painful. I like when other people say how genius someone else is, but when someone is telling you how genius they are, it gets old quick. I couldn't even finish the book. I also didn't like how he used the "i" in his name when he had no association with iDevice, and going back farther, had nothing to do with the Macintosh either, preferring to keep working on the Apple II. So although the guy was key pre-1980, not much since. I really think he could have created some really great things, but for some reason, he just lost his passion to create great things. Steve J. never lost that passion and that's why Apple is where it is today. Thanks Woz, Jan. 1, 1980.

 

[Blue Fox]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

It only affects people who put too much superstition into a number which is simply that, just a number.

The Apple Logo with a bite taken out of it wasn't introduced until later on in the Apple years, not when the Apple I was being sold.

 

[jamesdmc]

It only affects people who put too much superstition into a number which is simply that, just a number.

Just a few months ago, I made a purchase at the grocery store that totaled $3.34. I paid with a ten dollar bill. The clerk offered to give me $6.67 in change just to avoid giving me $6.66. He was dead serious.

I was like, " you gotta be ******** me".

 

[japanime]

The opening bid should have been $666.66.

 

[flyinmac]

The opening bid should have been $666.66.

Add a few 6's for inflation and historical value

 

[jweinraub]

It's interesting how no one at Apple at the time didn't appear to have a problem with selling something for $666. That combined with the Apple logo with a bite taken out of it would freak some people out...

I never understood why people care about numbers, like why 13 is so feared, a lot of buildings skip it entirely. And 666. I also don't understand why 666 and an Apple with a bite out of it would freak people out anyway... What is the reaction you thought people would have had? I know the 666 part but an apple with a bite out of it? Why is that a bad omen or whatever?

 

[ttss6]

I never understood why people care about numbers, like why 13 is so feared, a lot of buildings skip it entirely. And 666. I also don't understand why 666 and an Apple with a bite out of it would freak people out anyway... What is the reaction you thought people would have had? I know the 666 part but an apple with a bite out of it? Why is that a bad omen or whatever?

Yeah it's a joke about people who are overly superstitious. The Apple part is referring to how Eve bit into the forbidden fruit and as a result causes the first sin. So the origins of sin mixed with the number of the beast could've been off putting for some irrational people.

 

[CFreymarc]

If you believe Steve Jobs, he said he didn't know that 666 was the sign of the devil. But I find that hard to believe, at least that nobody around him told him as much.

Then there is the real hardcore rhetoric where 666 was not necessarily the "sign of the devil" but an old Masonic numerology significance meaning "the six degrees of freedom of heaven, earth and hell." Steve knew exactly that they were opening a world of knowledge to the mass market where exclusive knowledge, such as how to write software, was moving away from elites to the masses.

 

[jouster]

How many of these are there even left?

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I heard Steve Wozniak priced it $666.666 because he liked repeating numbers..

How did one pay the $.006?

 

[velocityg4]

How did one pay the $.006?

Pesos

 

[uid15]

Just put a bid on it. Do you think $479,000 is enough? I'm serious btw.

NEVER EVER use YouTube's crappy "video stablization" - that's why this video is all distorted and wobbly - LET THAT BE A LESSON TO ALL.