Working Apple-1 'Byte Shop' computer expected to fetch $375k+

A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works has been put up for auction by purveyor of Cupertino relics RR Auctions. Copyright RR Auctions Pic RR Auctions The special feature of this piece, as the auctioneers would have it, is that Steve Jobs had written down the stock number "01-00002" on the board, and that …

[A Non e-mouse]

Some people have far too much money. Why not just place the thing in a museum if it's that important to the history of computing?

[jake]

You answered your own question: Some people have far too much money.

You could have added "and nowhere near enough common sense".

[jake]

Fools and their money?

I suspect that more than one of the "original, working" Apple-1 boards that has sold for umpteen thousand currency units is a fake.

Consider that I could easily make a reproduction that would fool "experts" for under US$1,000. The Woz gave out the board design and parts list at a Homebrew Computing meeting in '76. It's not like the technology is a big secret or anything, and all the necessary parts are still readily available. I might not even have to leave this property to collect period-correct examples. Next, throw in a little unscrupulous silk screening of copyright notice, and Bob's yer Auntie.

Before anyone says it, you can't tell from serial numbers ... thanks to bad record keeping, and a general lack of giving a shit about that kind of documentation back then, nobody knows for certain what the numbers were. I doubt the "verified Jobs handwriting" means much ... it consists of three numeric characters and a dash written with a Sharpie on fiberglass/epoxy.

Not that I would recommend committing such a forgery, of course. But you've got to wonder every time one of these things turns up ... especially one in working condition.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

Re: Fools and their money?

Given the amount of fakery and doctoring that goes on in any of the other collectors markets (antique furniture, jewellery, classic cars etc), no harm in being a bit sceptical

[martinusher]

Purveyor?

That pretty much says it all.

[Howard Sway]

A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

How do they know that it actually works if it's unused?

[doublelayer]

Re: A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

They're playing the odds that nobody who is willing to pay that much for one would ever plug it in. If they do and it lets out the magic smoke, then they can blame the damage on the buyer. My guess is that "working" translates to "there's no obvious reason on visual inspection why it shouldn't be working".

[A Non e-mouse]

Re: A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

RTFA. They state it ran for eight hours.

[doublelayer]

Re: A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

I stand corrected. I missed that somehow in my first reading. I'm still not sure how they could be certain it was unused before it was restored, but they can know it's running (for now, but I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for it having an enduring continuing run). I doubt that will matter though, as it's still unlikely that someone will buy this in order to turn it on.

[jake]

Re: A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

"I'm still not sure how they could be certain it was unused before it was restored"

I can think of two ways ... Either no scratch marks on the connectors and perfect/no threads in the standoffs, or they built it in their garage the evening before.

"I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for it having an enduring continuing run"

I can see it ... That board is particularly easy to debug to component level, and all the parts are available, either as period-correct New Old Stock from various used equipment warehouses, OR as brand-new, made last week parts.

"as it's still unlikely that someone will buy this in order to turn it on."

It will never run again. It's an investment(??), not a computer.

[John Brown (no body)]

Re: A "clean and unused" prototype Apple-1 that actually works

Apart from electrolytic capacitors. When restoring old electronics, that's the first thing you replace. I doubt "old/new stock" will be in much better condition after that period of time.