For that amount of money it’s incredible we aren’t seeing fakes…
FridayoLeary 5 hours ago [-]
Or just reproducing it and selling it on the basis that it works exactly the same way as the original...
I'm slightly mystified at the sums collectors items sell for. It seems intuitive to me that their prices should be some function of their inherent values, however that's calculated. It could even be many times that number but it should at least be tethered to reality.
kristopolous 21 hours ago [-]
Gotta be honest, if I saw this sitting next to a dumpster I'd probably think "what is this worthless circuitboard doing here." and then I'd take it to properly e-waste it only to later find out:
"That was worth how much!?"
kens 13 hours ago [-]
That literally happened: a woman dropped off computer junk at an e-waste facility in Milpitas in 2015. The facility found an Apple I in the stuff and sold it for $200,000. They tried unsuccessfully to get in touch with the woman to split the money.
> The story of an almost-destroyed Apple-1 found in a recycling center is a bit strange. There’s no proof it's true. No picture of the Apple-1 has been published, yet the company was in the news for a long time. After gaining so much attention, many people sent old computers to them. Numerous requests for a photo or info went unanswered. No Apple-1 expert or collector was ever contacted by the recycling company.
As far as I can tell, there's no public record of the sale, the buyer never came forward, and all the photos of the computer from news articles and stuff are stock images of other Apple 1s.
stavros 21 hours ago [-]
How much is it worth? I couldn't find any prices on the page.
What an amazing labor of love to catalog all these machines. Some of the stories behind each individual machine are amazing.
I remember when Fry's Electronics (was it Palo Alto or Sunnyvale?) had one on display.
nielsbot 22 hours ago [-]
Man... tangentially, is there a coffee table book about Fry's yet? I remember in the dot com days they had a lounge pianist there as well as a cafeteria? And also, oddly, adult magazines by the check out lines.
glimshe 18 hours ago [-]
I feel sad every time I think about Fry's and the death of big box electronics retail. I still long for those trips where I'd simply spend hours looking for what's new. Amazon can't deliver the same high and neither can Microcenter, the not-so-bad modern version.
Don't get me even started about Radio Shack :'(
dhosek 14 hours ago [-]
I loved all the themed locations in Southern California, although the north-Orange county one, where the theme was just “aerospace” and all they really did was put a giant Space Shuttle model in the center (Burbank’s 50s sci-fi movie theme was, I think, the best of the lot).
rkhassen9 7 hours ago [-]
Would love a coffee table book of Fry's. The themes alone would make good viewing!
minitoar 22 hours ago [-]
There was a cafeteria as recently as 2018
ageitgey 21 hours ago [-]
The Iron Horse cafe! Surprisingly good sandwiches back in the day.
divbzero 22 hours ago [-]
Of the 92 “verified and almost verified” Apple I computers in this registry, 67 are confirmed to be in working condition.
22 hours ago [-]
aquova 12 hours ago [-]
I'm not sure why, but I vaguely expected Woz to have at least one
N19PEDL2 12 hours ago [-]
A few years ago, I attended a test powering on of #41 'Frank Anderson' at the Polytechnic University of Turin. It was a truly exciting and interesting experience.
ycombinete 16 hours ago [-]
Why is “computer” not pluralised in the page title?
I thought it was a mistake in the post; but it’s the same on the page.
natebc 16 hours ago [-]
perhaps a German=>English phrasing thing? the editor of that site is German.
Seems like it belonged to an Apple employee who passed away.
Stratoscope 18 hours ago [-]
Yes. Details are in the Christie's auction listing linked above. Scroll down to read the very interesting article about the Apple 1 in general and specifics about this particular machine.
Teever 15 hours ago [-]
Looks like it came from the Living Computer Museum.[0]
I love the ‘almost verified’ as a category. This just subtly hints to the human/cultural values behind it (documentation, restoration, preservation efforts), not only the hardware or as many comments here speculate on; its value in coins.
Rendered at 04:06:59 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time) with Vercel.
https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/35045050724601...
https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/34999140714600...
I'm slightly mystified at the sums collectors items sell for. It seems intuitive to me that their prices should be some function of their inherent values, however that's calculated. It could even be many times that number but it should at least be tethered to reality.
"That was worth how much!?"
https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19665632
> The story of an almost-destroyed Apple-1 found in a recycling center is a bit strange. There’s no proof it's true. No picture of the Apple-1 has been published, yet the company was in the news for a long time. After gaining so much attention, many people sent old computers to them. Numerous requests for a photo or info went unanswered. No Apple-1 expert or collector was ever contacted by the recycling company.
As far as I can tell, there's no public record of the sale, the buyer never came forward, and all the photos of the computer from news articles and stuff are stock images of other Apple 1s.
https://www.apple1registry.com/en/43.html
https://onlineonly.christies.com/s/firsts-history-computing-...
I remember when Fry's Electronics (was it Palo Alto or Sunnyvale?) had one on display.
Don't get me even started about Radio Shack :'(
I thought it was a mistake in the post; but it’s the same on the page.
https://www.apple1registry.com/en/contact.html
Frankly I'll take it over artificially sandblasted translation via someGPT.
1. https://www.macrumors.com/2022/12/16/apple-1-sells-for-440k/
2. https://www.christies.com/en/lot/lot-6495022
[0] https://www.geekwire.com/2017/important-computer-history-ste...