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Working Apple 1 Computer Sells for Record Auction Price of $671,400

Philoman said:
It is a little strange how their early branding may suggest a religious implications by the use of the *bitten apple* as the brand logo and then pricing their first product, Apple-1 for *$666*. :eek: I do not buy anyone's comment that it was a coincidence. These guys were not dumb nor naïve.
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Hang on to your crucifix. The price was $666.66, and I'm pretty sure that the Book of Revelations didn't mention anything about truncating to 5 significant digits.

According to Wikipedia:
...because because Wozniak "liked repeating digits" and because they originally sold it to a local shop for $500 plus a one-third markup.
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Also, the "bitten apple" logo could also be a reference to Alan Turing, who committed suicide by biting into a cyanide-laced apple. Questionable taste, maybe, but hardly satanic.
 
wiz329 said:
the fact is that in this particular case, the historical importance of such an object is likely to significantly contribute to its demand (hence the high price paid).
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Apparently, in the same auction, there was a Scelbi 8H (first commercial microprocessor-based computer), an Altair 8800 (which has a strong case for being the first 'personal computer'), an original Apple Lisa (massive paradigm shift in the PC industry), a 300-year-old mechanical calculator designed by Pascal, and an Enigma machine... and according to the guide prices you could have had the lot for less than the guide price of the Apple 1.

The Apple 1 is going to be valuable as long as Apple are a household name. After that... well, its one a dozens models of single-board computers designed in garages and sold to hobbyists in the late 70s. I'm not saying it won't remain a valuable collectors' item - but I wouldn't bet on it holding its current value. An Enigma machine, however, will always be an Enigma machine.

Anyway, I had half a million bucks burning a hole in my pocket, the only reason I'd blow it on computer collectibles is if I were starting a museum - in which case 'interesting' would trump 'valuable' every time.
 
wiz329 said:
While you are technically correct that supply and demand are what determine the price of any given good, that's not the point.

While I'm sure you can come up with any number of bizarre scenarios in which historical importance doesn't actually drive up the demand, the fact is that in this particular case, the historical importance of such an object is likely to significantly contribute to its demand (hence the high price paid). The high demand for it was clearly not due to its productive capacity -- thus a reasonable conclusion would be it was due to its historic importance. Its historical importance is therefore instrumental in the determination of the monetary value.

All I was pointing out is that your statement, "An important place in history has little to do with monetary value." is simply not true. Does historical importance ALWAYS determine monetary value? Obviously not (your mud example provides excellent support for this point). However, often the historical importance of an object does indeed significantly impact the monetary value by driving up demand for it, as is most likely the case here.


P.S. And if you really want to get nit picky, "Supply and demand determine price. Nothing else." isn't technically true anyways. There are plenty of cases in which supply and demand don't determine price. Minimum wage?
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I think that we agree more than we disagree.

My original point was that the collectible market is very fickle, and that historical importance is not enough to ensure demand.
 
Mal67 said:
I'll give you $6.71 for it :) Must be working in mint condition with mint paperwork in original box which must also be in mint condition. :)
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No way! Has to be worth at least double that... I will give it another 30 years and see. :)

Anyway it would cost more in fuel to drive it to the postal office to post out. ;)

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gnasher729 said:
The reason why the Apple 1 is so rare is that only 1000 were sold in the first place, and when the Apple 2 was released, Apple offered upgrades to the much better Apple 2 computer, so many Apple 1s were returned and destroyed.
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I know.... I made the comment with tongue firmly in cheek....
 
Apple 1

it will valuable for Museum, or to showing people only.
gnasher729 said:
It's not a Mac.

It is an Apple computer. I'm not sure if it was ever really called an Apple 1 computer, just like the very first Macintosh is just called Macintosh and nothing else, the first iPod is called iPod and nothing else, the first Pentium processor was called Pentium and nothing else.




Apple's cache is fading? What cache are you talking about? The cache in my MBP seems to be working just fine, not "fading" at all if you explain what it would mean for a cache to be "fading".
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Ciao!

Beautiful machine, Steve Jobs. So resourceful and creative.
...back in the day when computers were interesting and exciting. An interest for me which has recently ended. Most of us are online more than is good for us. So, today I requested to have my MacRumors account canceled(if they let me), and will continue to disconnect tomorrow. Luckily I never got a smart phone, and contract. Just heard one study says the average smartphone owner checks their phone 150 times a day.
So, I'm cutting way back on the web--to the bone. I'm off to try to live in the tactile world. I do not think I will miss looking for the next gadget development...arguing about things like touch screens, battery times, or pixel density.
Rather, I'm looking forward to going for a walk, without a smartphone. And coming home to make some artwork instead of poking at digital devices. In 12 years of being online, nothing really important came over it that I could have found out about through a landline or through the US postal service.
And, I have a lot of unread books on my book shelf. my "real" book shelf.
All the best everybody here.
10-4
Davvid
 
Davvid said:
Beautiful machine, Steve Jobs. So resourceful and creative.
...back in the day when computers were interesting and exciting. An interest ....
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I do all the things you wish to do - with my iPhone in my pocket.
I don't see why you blame the Internet for your lack of real life.
Not everyone using a iPhone or the Internet is a geek who waits in line before an Apple store to get the latest gadget.
 
Apple could get some good PR here... offer complimentary AppleCare to all Apple 1s still in existence. Then hire, Woz so he can suit up at an Apple store and fix these suckers. Woz would do it for fun probably. Would get people to stop talking about their tax practices, which I have no problem with btw.

Bryan

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Davvid said:
Beautiful machine, Steve Jobs. So resourceful and creative...
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Davvid, it's OK buddy. Take a deep breath. We are here to help. You don't have to let technology consume your life. Don't want to answer a phone while taking a walk, leave it in the car. I got into the habit of turning off all email/message sounds, etc. I found myself looking every time I heard a sound. Now I look when I'm ready.

You don't have to have either or. I don't even have a true phone right now. I'm using my iPad mini, Google Voice and Skype out, with Skype In number. And I usually stay logged off, and I decided when I check to see who called. I don't like even answering the phone during the day. Since I mostly use data and never voice, the iPad mini has been a life saver. I spend more time getting the information I want, and not being distracted as much. I can leave it in my car, or silence it, and then pick it up and see what's happening every hour or two.

I guess you are not a fan of the iWatch??? lol I wouldn't want that thing buzzing and beeping every minute either. My guess is that will cause many accidents on the road.

Technology will never change to the way it was before, so you'll have to change the way you use the newer technology. The alternative is burying our heads in the sand, which won't do any good in any case.

Bryan
 
theluggage said:
The Apple 1 is going to be valuable as long as Apple are a household name. After that... well, its one a dozens models of single-board computers designed in garages and sold to hobbyists in the late 70s. I'm not saying it won't remain a valuable collectors' item - but I wouldn't bet on it holding its current value.
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You made my point much more effectively than I did. Thanks.
 
gnasher729 said:
From the article: "The buyer, Mr. Breker said, was a wealthy entrepreneur from the Far East, who wishes to remain anonymous."
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Confirms my point, nobody here knows who bought it...accept the one who sold it. :D

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Mal67 said:
The Coleco version of Zaxxon was pretty good and the machine made good use of sound and colour for the time.
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I will give Coleco that credit. Atari had the game library but Coleco had better graphics and sound, especially with Zaxxon. More true to the arcade than Atari. Unfortunately licensing prevented them from getting the great games and Coleco lost credibility due to sabotaging the Atari and Intellivision versions of Donkey Kong giving them the advantage. Sales plummeted from then there on.
 
Wonder what my 128ks and 512ks with the etched autographs of Jobs, Woz, and the rest of the original Mac Design team on the inside of the back case will one day be worth? I have 20 of them and all the keyboards, mice and 400k System discs. A few ImageWriter Is & IIs as well. I hope some day it turns out it was worth saving them....
 
:eek: $671,400

And it has a "cassette deck" I remember those from the Commodore 64 days.

Good to know another company also use cassettes and not just Commodore.

this also looks like a DYI type of thing....... no casing at all..... and look what appears to be one of those CB radio screens.

So, a private buyer bought this non-working machine, not-signed, repaired it, then flew to California to have it signed by Wozniak to sell at a higher price tag ?

umm..... anyone wanna try doing that today?
 
I like that the owner paid $40K for it earlier this year, not working, fixed it, raced it off to Woz for a signature then off to market.

A pretty good return.
 
Porco said:
Macs have always been expensive, but this is ridiculous, that's it, I'm getting a linux PC! It doesn't even run Mountain Lion! :p

In all seriousness it's almost certainly a fine investment given the historical impact Apple have had and are still having on the world.
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Ironic that the Apple hating trolls who infest this site and others constantly point out that Apple has had absolutely NO impact on the world, historical or otherwise. They will proudly tell you that Apple is, was, and will always be irrelevant. They act as if Apple is some abominable abberration that has been foisted upon the world. They are truly crazy, as this auction vividly points out. No TRS-80 would garner this kind of attention. The iPhone and the iPad will be in the Smithsonian someday. The Samsung Galaxy S4 will not.
 
The One has to be the only Apple computer that's appreciating.

How much do you think I could get if I flew to California and Woz sign my IIvx?
 
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