It is a far cry from the slick ads and flawless photography of Apple’s latest products.
Bonhams is set to auction an ad for Apple’s first machine, the Apple-1.
Handwritten by Steve Jobs, it offers a bare circuit board for the machine and a manual for $75, which Jobs declares ‘a real deal’.
An instead of slick marketing images, there are Polaroids of bare circuits boards.
Handwritten by Steve Jobs, the note offers a bare circuit board for the machine and a manual for $75, which Jobs declares ‘a real deal’. An instead of slick marketing images, there are Polaroids of bare circuits boards.
Jobs touts the many features of the unit such as the ‘full crt terminal’ (screen).
In 1976, when most other hobbyist computers were programmed using a bank of flashing LEDs on the front panel, incorporating a screen was revolutionary.
The machine being offered is believed to be one of the second batch made.
The first 50 boards were sold to the Byte Shop, and Jobs hoped to continue the momentum for the firm by marketing bare Apple-1 printed circuit boards (PCBs) to friends and acquaintances.
The December 5, Bonhams sale of History of Science and Technology also includes a working Apple-1 computer gifted by Steve Jobs to the current owner (estimate: $250,000-350,000)
The interior of the working computer – which is hused in a wooden box
Jobs stands in front of a photo of himself, right, and Steve Wozniak, left, with an Apple-1
‘The present manuscript is essentially a specification sheet for the computer and was given to the consignor during a visit to Jobs’ garage,’ Bonhams said.
Jobs refers to the computer as ‘Apple Computer-1’ and states that it uses either the 6800, 6501 or 6502 microprocessor, but that the 6501 or 6502 was ‘recommended because we have basic.’
Jobs states ‘basic on the way (ROM),’ which never materialized for the Apple-1, but did the following year for the Apple II.
The manuscript is accompanied by two Polaroid photographs.
The first shows an Apple-1 on a wooden table with a keyboard, monitor and power supply partially visible in the right edge.
The other Polaroid shows the Apple-1 screen with ‘Apple Computer Co. at the bottom and Jobs’ address and phone number for contact.
Jobs has written on the lower margin ’40×24 OR 26 lines / fuzzy because camera wiggled.’
A working Apple Lisa, the computer that brought the graphical user interface (GUI) and the mouse to the wider marketplace, is also up for grabs (estimate: $30,000-50,000).
Jobs also includes his contact information at the bottom of the letter, giving his parent’s address.
Apple famously began in the garage attached to the house, where many of the original Apple-1s were assembled in a garage by jobs and Apple co-founder steve Wozniak.
The December 5, Bonhams sale of History of Science and Technology also includes a working Apple-1 computer gifted by Steve Jobs to the current owner (estimate: $250,000-350,000) as well as a working Apple Lisa, the computer that brought the graphical user interface (GUI) and the mouse to the wider marketplace (estimate: $30,000-50,000).