34 year old PC sold for $210K at auction

An Apple-I computer sold for approximately $210K at auction in London this week. Its processor works 1000 times slower than Apple iPad, but a markup of 425 times the original asking price of $666.66. The Apple-I, the first computer ever made by Apple, was part of a tech-centric showcase at Christie’s auction house in London. According to the Associated Press, the winning bidder was Italian businessman and private collector Marco Boglione.

The Auction House had posted an estimate of $160,300 to $240,450 for the machine. The Apple-I, one of only 200 such models ever made, was designed and built by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who was in attendance at the auction in London. It came with its original packaging and a signed sales letter from Steve Jobs, one of Apple Computer’s co-founders and the current CEO of Apple Inc. The very first Apple computer featured 4KB of memory, and a fully-functioning circuit board. Wozniak originally wanted to charge $777.77 for the Apple-I, but his partner, Steve Jobs, convinced him to drop the price tag to $666.66. Wozniak complied.

Present at the technology auction, which also included manuscripts, prints, and science-themed texts, was Apple Computer cofounder Steve Wozniak, who agreed to add an autographed letter to the lot. He said the auction was a historic moment for his work, especially when sold alongside such technological greats as an Enigma, the German code-making machine, and writings of British mathematician Alan Turing, considered one of the founders of modern computing.

No related posts.