
ITS AN APPLE STORY...
...So release those Midweek Trolls!!
It's clapped-out and so under-specced that sending even the briefest of tweets is impossible. But that won't stop some super rich collector from paying $600,000 for an Apple-1 computer signed by the Cupertino Godhead himself, Steve Jobs. The pre-Mac was built in Jobs' garage before being sold to Charles Ricketts. According to …
>I know a collector and their money are often parted. But seriously.
That doesn't necessarily make the collector a fool - who knows if the value will go up or down? An example is included in this very article:
"It is currently owned by Robert Luther, a collector from Virginia. He bought the expensive machine during 2004 at a police auction" I don't expect he paid $600k for it.
You might compare it to art, antiques, vintage wine or commodities markets - some people lose money, sure, but others gain. If you, Indolent Wretch, are able to predict who is who with certainty, then I expect you've posted your comment from your private yacht moored off the Cayman Islands.
"I've got a good idea. Let's build a system that sends emails and goes on the internet, BUT we'll charge them 7p per minute to connect to the internet and to download their emails. We're going to make thousands of pounds!"
This is the same man sitting behind that desk with Countdown man on one side and a well known ****** of Birmingham **** *********** now at West Ham, moaning at suited idiots why making £50 from selling potatoes isn't good enough.
* - So I don't get in trouble with moderators, although it's all true.
We did this a couple of weeks ago.
Is it like football? Is there an Apple I transfer deadline and they all have to be auctioned off for crazy money and change hands before the end of the month or something?
Try harder. There are some. But the Apple II was never sold as a single Board Computer. It was a system, with limited number of keys built in keyboard, cheap Astec PSU, only 40 columns capitals only text and very slow expensive non-standard 100K single sided floppy drive. Early models only did colour in USA because of how they modified it for European 50Hz. Like the IBM PC one of the keys to success was easy to fit plug-in cards. I had ones for 80 column text with lower case, Z80 with 64K RAM and controller for a 5 Mbyte full height 5.25" Winchester / HDD.
The Apple II OS was nothing great unless you wanted only Visicalc. We used UCSD-p system for development for a while and then when we got CP/M via the Z80 card also added dual 1Mbyte 8" floppies.
But Apple dropped computer from their name and a tiny fraction of profit is from Mac. The iPod, iPad and iPhone used hardware developed by others (mostly not PC makers) and succeeded late to market by combination of marketing, slick UI, and in case of the iPhone magic data plans for consumers in an era when only business folk could afford data on a Smart phone.
The point is that it led to a production machine, the Apple II that did effectively start the home computer revolution. The similarly 6502 powered Atari XLs, Commodore Vic 20s and BBC B came along a whole lot later (Although the slightly expensive and clunky Commodore PET wasn't that far behind the apple II) The PC would not have existed without the impetus of the fast growing hobbyist market giving IBM the confidence to produce it.
[SInclair's products were a tiny side show in the UK]
If I dare suggest: the spokesman's comment that "when you see a child playing with an iPad or iPhone, not too many people know that it all started with the Apple-1" suggests that he just means that Apple, the noteworthy company, started with the Apple-1. Not the digital age. Not the home computer revolution. Just Apple.
Such other births as you may want to peg to the Apple-1 are entirely at your own discretion.
No, some schools bought it instead of RM or Acorn (later BBC).
Most of Apple II success was with Visicalc. It certainly didn't start the Home Computer revolution. Far too expensive for too little compared to competition. I think though it had the first Kings Quest game.
The IBM PC was nothing to do with home market. It was an answer to success of CP/M based business machines. It was squarely aimed at Business.
ah. i see apple have managed to invent the entire digital world now. funny, it wasnt like that yesterday. im sure of it. maybe my memory is failing but wait...whats that big shimmery thing approaching? its in the shape of ...what is that? oh its a piece of fruit....mememememememmememeeeewwoaoaoaoahahahbep beeptemporaldistortioncompletebeeop.
sorry something odd happened there.
oh yes. wow, this was the first ever digital thing ever. id sure like to own it!
The spokesman doesn't say that at all. He said: "It all started with the Apple-1". If we're going to assume he meant something more than just "[Apple] all started with the Apple-1" then why stop at the entire digital world? Why not assume he meant that the Apple-1 ushered in the creation of the universe? I certainly can't personally vouch for anything definitely having existed prior to the early-'80s.
The Apple 1 and Apple II didn't start it.
What about CP/M. 8080 etc?
Wang, HP, DEC ...
The Apple II relied on sales of Visicalc.
Nor did IBM PC. Plenty of non-x86 (actually the IBM PC was the pathetic 8088) and OS before IBM and MS held back computing for nearly 10 years.