An authenticated Apple-1 computer prototype used by Steve Jobs was purchased for $ 677,196 at an auction from a Bay Area collector who wishes to remain anonymous. Jobs used the prototype to demonstrate the computer to Paul Terrel, owner of the Mountain View Byte Shop in California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world.
SOLD: Steve Jobs’s prototype Apple-1 computer sold for $ 677,196 @RRAuction. https://t.co/5jnZ58bvFl#Apple #Steve Jobs #history#Deliver #Rare #Results pic.twitter.com/kPl0IzBzpf
– RR auction (@RRAuction) 19 August 2022
According to RR Auction, this demonstration led to Apple’s first large order and changed the course of the company’s future. Jobs and Steve Wozniak originally conceived the Apple-1 as part of a $ 40 DIY kit for hobbyists. But Terrel asked them to change it into a fully assembled computer that sold for $ 666.66.
To authenticate the board, it was first paired with Polaroid photographs taken by Terrell in 1976, which showed the prototype in use. “In conversations with Paul Terrell, after reviewing the images, we both agreed that he photographed this Apple-1 prototype while it was fully operational in the Byte Shop in 1976,” said Bobby Livingston, executive vice president of RR. Auction, in a press release.
This prototype is covered by the Apple-1, where it is listed as # 2. It was also authenticated by Corey Cohen, an Apple-1 expert. Cohen produced a thirteen-page notarized report that was sold along with the prototype.
This particular Apple-1 prototype is of historical significance because it marked a turning point for a company that would later become a multi-billion dollar business. At the time, Wozniak had no intention of exploiting the project for profit and had already given the computer project to the Homebrew Computer Club. computer that would take Apple to where it is today.