[HN Gopher] An original Apple-1 computer sells for $400k
___________________________________________________________________
An original Apple-1 computer sells for $400k
Author : pseudolus
Score : 141 points
Date : 2021-11-10 11:34 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.npr.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.npr.org)
| codingclaws wrote:
| How much for an apple-2? I know someone who has one.
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| depends on whether you have the floppy drives in good
| condition, if the on board battery hasn't exploded, if the
| power supply caps need replacing... Look up your local vintage
| computer festival, there's always tables set up to sell your
| wares.
| ddingus wrote:
| The on board battery was used on the Apple 2 GS, the 16 bit
| successor to the 8 bit Apple 2.
|
| The GS used a 65816 CPU, and the Apple 1 and 8 bit Apple 2
| computers used 6502 and 65C02 CPU chips.
|
| A 65802 can be installed into the 8 bit computers, with the
| 64K address space limitation imposed by the hardware.
|
| A bit of digging can get one an Apple 8 but computer for a
| few hundred bucks, sometimes cheaper, depending.
|
| I got my //e Platinum a decade ago for $150'ish from Apple
| Rescue of Denver. At that time, it came with one disk drive,
| Super Serial card, and the 128K / 80 column display card.
|
| Anyone interested in these machines could skip getting a disk
| drive, though using floppies a few times is fun, and go for a
| emulation card. I do recommend the CFFA 3000 card, if
| available. Those can take disk images right from an ordinary
| USB flash drive.
| ghaff wrote:
| Ebay is probably a good source for this sort of thing. Prices
| on a lot of things are overheated at the moment of course, but
| it looks to be maybe a few hundred dollars. I have some old
| computer stuff at home but it's far from mint condition and
| whenever I looked didn't seem to be worth the hassle of selling
| and shipping it.
| kennywinker wrote:
| If you invested $666.66 (original price) in 1976 into the S&P500,
| you would have about $22k today. $87k if you invested it in the
| NASDAQ. In conclusion I will be putting all of my money into
| weird first-generation devices from now on.
| ecolonsmak wrote:
| -first-generation devices_
|
| any recommendations?
| kennywinker wrote:
| I was joking, that's the wrong conclusion. The math does not
| actually work out. Taking the low estimate (S&P500): 400k/22k
| = 18x multiplier. So, worst-case scenario, you'd need 1 in 18
| devices to pay out that well to break even. Closer to 1 in 5
| if you take the larger (NASDAQ) number.
| BitwiseFool wrote:
| I'd love to see some webapp that calculates how much your Apple
| shares would be worth if you bought stock equivalent to the
| purchase price of that Apple product. I think it'd be pretty
| fascinating to see how much my shares would be worth if I
| bought stock instead of a 2nd generation iPod.
| robterrell wrote:
| Close to what you're asking for: https://conroy.org/apple-
| stock
| jcun4128 wrote:
| I remember watching this video of an old Mac connecting to the
| internet, it was slow as hell but it was surreal.
|
| It is neat when it's more tangible
| 1023bytes wrote:
| Well that's very cheap considering people spend millions of
| dollars on hashes of pictures of randomly generated monkeys
| reginold wrote:
| I thought a lot about this comment. I deeply would want that
| Apple-1 in a way, massive piece of Apple history. But then I
| think about owning it - what a pain. It needs to be in an air
| conditioned room, bugs nibble at it, dust gathers, where do I
| put it in my house anyway? It's so cool in my mind but the
| glory of having it seems less so.
|
| However, with an NFT, there's no maintenance cost, it's always
| the same, it's pristine. I can do whatever I want with it,
| shrink it for socks, grow it to put on a blimp, make cakes,
| whatever.
|
| For the first time I can see why people spend millions of
| dollars on hashes of pictures of randomly generated monkeys.
| [deleted]
| jdonaldson wrote:
| You can still make socks, blimps, or cakes with any sort of
| monkey image you want... or even non-monkey images. The
| technology is out there.
| op00to wrote:
| I'll just pirate your monkey picture.
| reginold wrote:
| Haha yes of course, please do! The more the merrier, more
| of my monkey for everyone! There's always a record on the
| blockchain that it's indeed mine - or not if I so choose!
| LocalH wrote:
| You right-clicker! /s
| heckerhut wrote:
| Well an NFT has way more utility than this thing. It makes you
| part of an online community. Naturally it has a different
| value.
| dehrmann wrote:
| This has more utility because, assuming it works, it's a
| general purpose computer. You might even be able to mine
| crypto with it.
| forgotmyoldname wrote:
| I've been told this by various MLM salesmen multiple times.
| Seems NFT "investors" aren't hiding it anymore.
| LegitShady wrote:
| You can join online communities for free, but then again
| there's not much value in joining online communities.
| Loughla wrote:
| I think you just hit on something there, though.
|
| There isn't an easy way to flex your status online, unless
| you're a celebrity, or put in the work to become an
| influencer.
|
| For people with money, there isn't a simple way to come to
| places like HN and just be important because you have
| money. There isn't a way to show people how wealthy and
| powerful you are without contributing.
|
| But NFT's allow you to show people how much disposable
| income you have, and therefore how much better you are than
| the unwashed masses, without needing to really do anything
| of substance.
|
| Or maybe that's just my own personal bias and confusion
| about NFT's in general showing?
| detaro wrote:
| I think that's certainly _a_ factor, especially when it
| comes to the meme-y stuff - which is what has been
| getting a lot of the attention. From other niches I get
| that impression a lot less - can 't really impress people
| with the fact you could spend $20 ;)
| ddingus wrote:
| No, that resonates. Truthy.
|
| It is like that "I'm Rich" app someone from Germany(?)
| made for iOS. Priced it at the max and a few people
| bought it!
|
| What they got was an app that displayed a picture of some
| expensive, fantasy ring with an equally fantastic
| gemstone set in it.
|
| Total status signaling!
|
| Of course the general failure on that one was the lack of
| network effects. Someone could see the app was on a
| phone, and or could see the displayed picture should the
| user leave it running.
|
| Seriously lame, but still there appeared to be at least a
| few takers.
| LegitShady wrote:
| There are cheap nfts and expensive nfts, and the only
| people who care already have nfts. Its not a general flex
| it's a flex to other nft memers which is a low status
| flex no matter what.
|
| Its like walking around with a Gucci billboard on your
| forehead - you think youre flexing but youre actually
| just demonstrating clown shoes.
|
| Nobody cares how expensive your nft is. They have no use
| anywhere. Its like having the fanciest clownshoes -
| you're still a clown.
| krustymeathead wrote:
| I do think you're onto something here. I've heard about
| "right-clicker mentality" [1] in relation to NFTs, which
| seems to align with your description of its utility as a
| wealth signal.
|
| [1] https://www.vice.com/en/article/5dgzed/what-the-hell-
| is-righ...
| the_af wrote:
| Owning and tinkering with retro computers makes you part of
| the retro computing fan community, which exists online and
| offline.
| JasonFruit wrote:
| *which exists.
| the_af wrote:
| True! I wanted to emphasize that "being online" (which
| the OP seems interested in) is not particularly important
| in itself, and that many interesting communities exist
| both online and offline.
|
| Which, as you point out, can be simplified to "exist" ;)
| mikestew wrote:
| "...part of a community". Man, I didn't know Amway[0] had
| pivoted to NFTs. Speaking of business, did you know that as
| an Amway representative, you can become part of a community
| of small business owners! I mean, NFT owners!
|
| [0]https://www.amway.com
| zohch wrote:
| Cite?
| speedcoder wrote:
| While "crypto" is the same length as "money" it means
| "cryptocurrency" which is way longer than "cash". This link
| explains it: https://youtu.be/kc4Ob6LAv8Y
| spicybright wrote:
| I could join a community of rich people throwing paper money
| onto fires too. But I wouldn't want to, therefore no value.
| worik wrote:
| https://www.scotsman.com/whats-on/arts-and-
| entertainment/why...
|
| Not easy...
| TigeriusKirk wrote:
| You're correct that buying a BAYC nft does make you a member
| of a _very_ active community. It 's very much a club
| membership.
|
| But owning a prime piece of vintage computing history gets
| you into a community too. And owning one is as much as status
| play as BAYC is.
| melenaboija wrote:
| I wish I had a hash of a 50 year old computer
| 0xTJ wrote:
| Here you go: b4a457fa7a566ca23fb214b986ff19234234a0654dc786f3
| 48377990b53585abb7dc1fa91672ab15de0d87deb66133f5657f85a2662bd
| 1f95de3743933d49982. It's the SHA512 hash of the full-size
| version header image of an Apple I from Wikipedia.
| incanus77 wrote:
| Please take this down; I own it.
| twalla wrote:
| Sorry you only own a receipt you can use with a centrally
| controlled database to look up the location of a jpeg
| hosted on S3.
|
| I'd be happy to purchase said receipt from you for 100
| million dollars in the hope that a greater fool comes
| along and pays me 150 million for it.
| birdyrooster wrote:
| Can I purchase 5% of it? My opening offer is $50,000
| BitwiseFool wrote:
| This poster is cutting you short, my friend. I can offer
| you 2,718,281,828 eLon tokens. It's a revolutionary
| decentralized token that harnesses the utility of natural
| logarithm mathematics.
| melenaboija wrote:
| Thanks man, I'll do some research for the part of making
| millions with it
| jxf wrote:
| In a number of high-value cases, no one spent any money at all,
| just transaction fees; they traded to themselves to give the
| appearance of a higher price.
| 908087 wrote:
| In an even larger number of high-value cases, they traded to
| themselves to transfer ill-gotten crypto from "anonymous
| bidder" wallets to their "real" wallets.
| LadyCailin wrote:
| Wait, are you talking about NFTs still or auction of physical
| goods?
| vincentmarle wrote:
| Probably referring to this: https://news.artnet.com/art-
| world/crypto-punk-500-million-sa...
| giarc wrote:
| I assume your comment is tongue in cheek since this
| practice happens in both industries. Perhaps you can help
| me though, I've been trying to remember the term used for
| this for weeks. I seem to recall it being called something
| like "washing the pipe" or something like that....?
| mpmpmpmp wrote:
| It's typically referred to as a wash trade or a wash
| sale.
| theobeers wrote:
| I wonder what a Lisa 1 in good condition would sell for in
| today's overheated market. Obviously a different situation from
| the Apple-1, but the original Lisa seems also to be exceptionally
| rare.
|
| A well-preserved example went for $31k in 2018. That's somewhat
| lower than I would have expected. Maybe we'll see a more
| impressive price the next time one of these goes to auction.
|
| https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/24898/lot/641/
| Tor3 wrote:
| There are several Lisa 1 in the pictures of this guy's Lisa 1
| and Lisa 2 collection at the time (2011).
| https://alker33.wordpress.com/2011/04/05/my-apple-lisa-colle...
| theobeers wrote:
| That's amazing! It looks like only the two in front have the
| dual "Twiggy" drives that distinguish the original Lisa. Then
| sixteen later models?! This guy must be the top collector; he
| even named his daughter Lisa.
| bluedino wrote:
| You'll need to make a couple YouTube videos hyping the value of
| the Lisa first since most people know what an Apple computer is
| but have never heard of a Lisa.
| theobeers wrote:
| It's funny you mention YouTube: I think the Lisa may now be
| the only classic Apple model that has not been reviewed in
| detail by the 8-Bit Guy, since he can't get his hands on one.
|
| He doesn't have an actual Apple-1 either, of course, but this
| year he was finally able to build an accurate replica.[0] (It
| still wasn't cheap or easy.)
|
| [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36NgkpctW6k
| jacquesm wrote:
| It wasn't an 8 bit computer which is quite possibly why he
| didn't review it.
| christkv wrote:
| Did they recap it? Normally capacitors are the first to go so a
| lot of old computers have have them replaced least they leak and
| damage the board
| grahamlee wrote:
| The date code on the capacitor is 1976 so I'm guessing not.
| christkv wrote:
| I wonder what it will do to the value once they have to recap
| to keep it booting.
| adverbly wrote:
| This chip shortage is really getting out of hand.
| jb1991 wrote:
| This is the best comment posted to HN in the last 36 hours.
| papito wrote:
| Throwing around obviously good jokes on HN is dicey. The
| local squares may start sending the links to their precious
| research papers on how "people who think they are funny are
| not really that funny".
| petermcneeley wrote:
| This inflation is really getting out of hand.
| iso1210 wrote:
| And they claim inflation is only 6%?! Hah!
| pseudolus wrote:
| More details and photos from the Auction House:
|
| https://www.johnmoran.com/?p=7272
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| > Rare, Hand-built Apple-1
|
| So, every single Apple I still in existence? IIRC, only a few
| hundred were made, and Jobs and Woz hand soldered every single
| board.
|
| As for "rare", that's very true. The Apple II had a trade in
| program where they'd take your Apple I and destroy(?) it?
| (reuse it for parts?)
| codetrotter wrote:
| My dream is to one day go to a garage sale and to find an
| original Apple Computer 1 for like $5. Not that that would
| ever happen ofc. But it's fun to have unrealistic dreams too
| sometimes.
| xattt wrote:
| A lot of people wish to stumble across something valuable
| without the original owner knowing the actual value of it.
| This is the underpinning of modern capitalism.
| zohch wrote:
| > This is the underpinning of modern capitalism.
|
| How so?
| guiriduro wrote:
| Crudely I'm guessing, information asymmetry. Which is
| usually considered a market failure, but is very common,
| perhaps even an "underpinning".
| xattt wrote:
| Value extraction.
| 300bps wrote:
| I view capitalism differently. I picture a neighborhood
| of elderly people who aren't able to shovel their
| driveways and walkways when it snows. And an industrious
| young person nearby who shovels their driveways and
| walkways for them for a modest fee.
|
| He does such a good job that word of his good service
| spreads and he wants to expand by buying a truck with a
| plow. But he doesn't have the money so he goes to a bank
| and borrows the money. He's able to expand his enterprise
| dramatically.
|
| He's happy. His customers are happy. The bank is happy.
| Society is better off, isn't it? There are of course
| problems with capitalism which is where regulation comes
| in. But it isn't rotten to the core.
| fileeditview wrote:
| It's a beautiful story but it's just the beginning. When
| he expands his enterprise by buying more and more trucks
| and hiring more people he then squashes all competition
| with price dumping, lobbying or just buys competing
| companies/individuals.
|
| At the latest when he has a monopoly the company's
| services will deteriorate and the prices will rise. The
| customers won't be happy anymore. Also he will scatter so
| much salt on the roads that the ground water gets
| polluted. You see where I am going?
|
| Of course it doesn't need to go this way but usually it
| does.
| 300bps wrote:
| Serious question - what percentage of businesses do you
| think reach the nightmare scenario you've painted? You
| said that "usually it does" go that way. That seems to
| mean more than half - is that seriously your opinion of
| the 10.75 million companies that are in the United
| States?
|
| I owned a computer service company for five years. I
| never did any of the things that you mentioned. All of my
| customers were small businesses and they never did
| anything you mentioned. You seem to be basing your
| opinion on the 1%.
| fileeditview wrote:
| I was talking about the giant multinational corporations
| that are basically unstoppable in whatever they do. The
| scenario I painted was about the never ending growth and
| its results.
|
| The more I think about it.. if the company is traded at
| the stock market and controlled by shareholders it cannot
| be good anymore because the optimization of revenue is
| the core of everything now.
|
| And with good I mean that it doesn't have interests that
| improve anything for the human race or the people of some
| country as long as these interests don't also align with
| optimizing profits.
| bcrosby95 wrote:
| By quantity of businesses, not most. By market cap, most.
|
| Since dollars are votes in capitalism, market cap is the
| more relevant metric.
| hoseja wrote:
| The young man then goes on to buy a politician for a
| paltry sum so the laws allow him to employ people for a
| pittance or in dangerous conditions.
| pawelmurias wrote:
| In the original fairy tale the young man would go on to
| bribe an ice witch to curse the land with everlasting
| winter for maximum profit.
| pram wrote:
| The entrepreneur in your example is a wage-laborer. Thats
| really not what people mean when they talk about
| "capitalism"
| rthomas6 wrote:
| >entrepreneur
|
| >wave-laborer
|
| These terms are mutually exclusive.
| pram wrote:
| Laboring for profit as employer and employee. Nice
| pedantic shitpost.
| ddingus wrote:
| Another story involves people living in a community, well
| connected, aware of one another, mutually respectful and
| considerate.
|
| Younger people shovel ways so the older people do not
| fall and get hurt.
|
| One day, a few of those younger people have an idea and
| get their start from that community, who helps fund,
| perhaps some members sharing space, equipment, etc...
| worik wrote:
| Another story has the old people pay the homeless just
| enough money to get a meal to shovel their driveway, then
| shut them out in the cold because, you know, the sanctity
| of private property means you have to shiver in the cold
| ddingus wrote:
| Ugly
| II2II wrote:
| As a teen I would scour local thrift stores for old 8 and
| 16-bit computers, play with them for a bit, then sell
| them off for two or three times the price. That would
| allow me to plow more money into old computers, either to
| build up savings or justify the few models I wanted to
| keep.
|
| People would inevitably offer me more because they were
| worth more (examples: a very old TRS-80 or musicians who
| still used the Atari ST). More often than not, I
| declined. I was more interested in seeing them used and
| not interested in turning my hobby into a business. For
| the most part, everyone was happy.
| elzbardico wrote:
| Probably a good portion of all Apple I ever made ended up
| in landfills.
| salamandersauce wrote:
| IIRC most were traded into to Apple for a discount on an
| Apple II and Apple just destroyed them.
| yitchelle wrote:
| Sounds like a good premise for a treasure hunt of sorts.
|
| Remember the video of a group hunting a stash of ET Atari
| video games cartridges, that was an interesting video.
| acomjean wrote:
| I think you mean the rumored Atari cartridges in the
| landfill documentary. That was pretty fun.
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari:_Game_Over
|
| Sometimes when I've lost something and am looking for it,
| I think "what if it's simply not here?". Then I think,
| "it still likely exists, where is it?"
| fortran77 wrote:
| Jobs soldered?
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| He didn't design it; Woz did all of that. Jobs was just the
| marketing face. But when the order from Byte Shop for ~50
| came, they obtained parts with a net-30 payment. To be able
| to pay that, I could swear I read that Jobs helped assemble
| them so they could finish in two weeks.
| cgh wrote:
| Little-known fact: Jobs was a serious electronics hobbyist
| throughout high school and his early 20s. It's safe to say
| he did a lot of soldering.
| rob74 wrote:
| Not really relevant, but I wonder if the Panasonic monitor is
| also from the same era. Seems very miniaturized for 1976?
| Bluecobra wrote:
| The image caption in the article says it's from 1986. This
| Apple I was likely hooked up to a JC Penney TV, with a fine
| wood grain cabinet.
| elzbardico wrote:
| Looks like a broadcast monitor, the kind used by TV studios.
| And yes, by the 70's they were already all this size,
| intended to be mounted in racks.
|
| More likely it is a repurposed CCTV monitor, that looked like
| this since very early too (In the 90's worked in place that
| had a very old CCTV system, from the 70's, with the giant
| cameras, and the displays were basically this size and
| format.
|
| There were other very small TVs too. It's not like we still
| used vacuum tubes to build tvs in 76.
| krallja wrote:
| I have a Panasonic CCTV that looks exactly the same as this
| one. It was $27 plus shipping on eBay this year. It uses
| BNC connectors instead of the later consumer-standard
| yellow RCA.
| matthewmcg wrote:
| "It's not like we still used vacuum tubes to build tvs in
| 76."
|
| Except for the picture tube itself, of course! (Broadening
| the definition a bit, perhaps.)
| jacquesm wrote:
| I took mine from a television camera (the monitor at the
| back) and it was a lot smaller than that one.
| krzrak wrote:
| From the careful wording of the offer it seems that it is
| extensively restored, rather than original in mint condition.
| dariosalvi78 wrote:
| > Apple-1 was the start of the personal computer industry > Prior
| to that, there were other computers. They were kits. They mostly
| didn't work when you got them
|
| no, it was not, the Olivetti Programma 101 was sold in thousands
| already in the 60s and was a pretty finite product
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_personal_computers#...
| [deleted]
| Accujack wrote:
| Not really... the OP101 was priced at about $26k in 2021
| dollars. The Apple I was priced at about $3250, which meant it
| was affordable for hobbyist purposes.
|
| It was also mostly complete out of the box, didn't need to be
| programmed via switches on the front panel, and could be used
| for actual tasks right away.
|
| Its combination of low cost, high feature count, and out of the
| box usefulness is why it usually gets referred to as the start
| of the personal computer industry.
| schleck8 wrote:
| Apple fans in shambles
| pc86 wrote:
| Please don't post low-effort garbage like this here
| HappyMans wrote:
| Please don't be rude. Your post is as much out of place
| with its rudeness as theirs is with its low-effortness.
| one_off_comment wrote:
| length [?] effort
| dariosalvi78 wrote:
| schleck8 has a point: most media (and people) love to
| highlight how Apple was the first at this or at that, like
| it's the only company that matters in the world. Truth is,
| notwithstanding all Apple's merits, they have rarely been
| the "first ones".
| [deleted]
| Someone wrote:
| The Programma 101 was a programmable calculator. Even though it
| could do more, out of the box, than many of those kits (built-
| in printer and card reader), I wouldn't call it a personal
| computer.
|
| But then I barely would call the Apple-1 that, either. You
| bought a PCB, optionally pre-assembled that booted into a
| system monitor. Even though you could directly connect a
| keyboard and a television (huge improvements; competing
| products still had toggle switches and indicator lights) that's
| not something you could sell to 'normal' people.
|
| The Apple II added a power supply, a keyboard (meaning buyers
| didn't need to go to some dump to find a keyboard that worked
| or could be made to work with the system), a case and Basic in
| ROM. That, for me, made it a personal computer. If you bought
| it, you could go home, plug it in, and start tinkering.
| dariosalvi78 wrote:
| then probably this 1970 computer would be a better candidate
| than the Apple II as personal computer:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datapoint_2200
| jhallenworld wrote:
| I would argue that the TRS-80 model 1 was more significant as
| the first home computer: $400 instead of $1300. Like the
| Apple-][ it also was usable out of the box, it just lacked
| color.
|
| http://www.trs-80.org/was-the-trs-80-once-the-top-selling-
| co...
| one_off_comment wrote:
| What is a computer if not a very fancy programmable
| calculator?
| ant6n wrote:
| Even though this looks like a huge appreciation of value, buying
| the apple stock would've made you much more money in that time
| frame. Plus it's easier to store and secure.
|
| Apple-2: 1976 666$, 2021 400K$, x600
|
| AAPL: 1980 10C/, 2021 150$, x1500
| kevinmchugh wrote:
| AAPL has also split several times since then, making the
| difference even more dramatic
| dboreham wrote:
| Aren't historical stock price services split-adjusted
| already?
| throwaway946513 wrote:
| Yes, they are. August/July of 2020 was the most recent AAPL
| share split. Price per share before split was ~$450usd, but
| it equated to ~$115usd split adjusted.
| salamandersauce wrote:
| Wow, just 4 more of those and they can buy a nice sealed copy of
| the most common game on the NES.
| TonyTrapp wrote:
| For anyone else wondering, from [1]:
|
| > See, back when the video game market was still considered to
| be a commercial wasteland, Nintendo decided to host "test
| launch" events for the NES in New York and Los Angeles.
| Basically, they wanted to see how the console would perform in
| those markets before expanding their release strategy. For
| those events, they manufactured a few thousand "special copies"
| of Super Mario Bros. What made them so special? Well, they were
| sealed with a sticker rather than plastic shrink wrap.
| Seriously...that's pretty much it.
|
| > As it turns out, that sticker is a pretty big deal among
| collectors. The only known still-sealed copy of the "test
| launch" version of Super Mario Bros. sold for $140,000 in 2019,
| and some suspect the game could go for close to $1,000,000 if
| it was sold on the current market.
|
| [1] https://www.denofgeek.com/games/rarest-most-valuable-nes-
| gam...
| salamandersauce wrote:
| I'm referring to the copy that sold for $2 million in August
| which is not from the test launch as it's plastic shrink wrap
| sealed and not sticker sealed.
| teddyh wrote:
| Those are part of what is probably a huge scam:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvLFEh7V18A
| acomjean wrote:
| Well at least it's not a NFT, and has a nice wooden case.
|
| On the other hand they spent more on this than my car or home.
| gondo wrote:
| Actually $500k "The article was updated to reflect the
| auctioneers' official recorded auction price of $500,000, rather
| than the earlier reported price of $400,000. The $500,000 total
| price includes the buyer's premium."
| https://www.macrumors.com/2021/11/10/rare-apple-1-computer-a...
| JKCalhoun wrote:
| > Apple-1 was the start of the personal computer industry
|
| I _feel_ like the Apple II was a better example of that: the
| Apple I more like a prototype (that shipped a little).
| amelius wrote:
| MOS Technology should have forced Apple to pay 30% of their
| revenue for the privilege of using their 6502 CPU.
| Jedd wrote:
| In the space of three contiguous paragraphs, that phrase is
| used three times.
|
| "... the model marked the start of the personal computer
| industry."
|
| "Apple-1 was the start of the personal computer industry."
|
| "The Apple-1 was the first Apple product to be sold. It marked
| the start of the personal computer industry."
|
| 200 units were built, 80 or so remain around today, and they
| were released in 1976. The Commodore PET was being designed in
| 1976, and released in 1977 - before the Apple II. There was, of
| course, a flurry of other activity around this time.
|
| Are these grandiose claims reasonable?
| robterrell wrote:
| I mean, IIRC Apple was the first company to use the phrase
| "personal computer," so perhaps literally true? If not quite
| what you meant.
| jacquesm wrote:
| The KIM-1 was out before the Apple-1. Arguably much less of a
| computer but if all you're looking at is the dates then it
| was clearly first.
| Bluecobra wrote:
| No, as there are plenty other kit and assembled computers at
| the time. For example, the IBM 5100 Portable Computer came
| out in 1975.
|
| https://www.old-computers.com
| the_only_law wrote:
| Sorry for veering off topic, but the 5100 has been the most
| elusive item I've wanted in my collection (probably not
| true, but the rarer items I want will I likely never
| obtain. They come up for sale occasionally, and tend to be
| even more expensive than rarer computers and almost never
| the APL version.
| user3939382 wrote:
| I still have my Apple IIc. Sadly I lost the 5.25" disks that had
| my first programs on them :(
| stuff4ben wrote:
| Man those Apple IIc's were just amazing little computers. I
| remember seeing them and they just looked so different and sexy
| (to this 10 year old nerd anyways). The whiteness, the molded
| keys, the weird case, everything about it was just so cool at
| the time and I still think so today. Sadly I do not have $500K
| to offer you...
| ospzfmbbzr wrote:
| My original apple IIe bought in 1983 is sitting on an old desk
| in my house.
|
| 256Kb expanded memory
|
| 80 column display card
|
| 2 x 5.25 disk drives and a collection of floppies
|
| Gravis joystick.
|
| Green screen has a tear in the fabric I need to repair. Other
| than that it still works.
| FPGAhacker wrote:
| Same here. But 256k? Mine was upgraded to 128... I didn't
| know 256k was a thing
| ospzfmbbzr wrote:
| You are correct! 128k with the 80 column display card
| adding 64K. I had to look it up. Been a while since I used
| the Apple.
| creeble wrote:
| Can I guess that the green screen is an Amdek? My former
| employer (1983), we sold hundreds of thousands of those (and
| the amber version) to Apple II customers (and even Apple
| themselves).
|
| Fun fact: the picture tube in that monitor was made in the US
| by Ball (the canning-jar company), the anti-glare fabric came
| from Ireland, and the rest came from Taiwan.
| ospzfmbbzr wrote:
| It's an Apple branded 'Monitor III'. Made by Hitachi for
| Apple according to the back label.
| np1810 wrote:
| Curious, can this computer be repaired (if something goes wrong
| with the hardware) either by self or an expert technician in the
| present world using the currently available components?
| christkv wrote:
| I think so as it does not use any really exotic parts.
| armadsen wrote:
| Yes, there's a small but well-developed community of replica
| builders, and all the parts needed are still available. You can
| also buy very good replica PCBs from more than one vendor.
| There is at least one guy who is an expert at bring up and
| repair of original machines. It's likely he worked on the one
| in this auction before it went up for sale.
| dasKrokodil wrote:
| Given the content of this answer:
|
| How hard would it be to create a forgery of an original Apple
| I?
|
| Asking for a friend...
| armadsen wrote:
| I'm not said expert, but authentication is definitely one
| of the things he does. I actually think it would be fairly
| hard to create a forgery. With enough work, you can source
| period-correct (ie. actual old) components, and indeed
| dedicated replica builders try to do so. I don't think
| that's a big obstacle.
|
| The main two difficulties are:
|
| - Getting the PCB layout _exactly_ right. AFAIK, the
| original was laid out by hand with tape on mylar sheet.
| Bends in the traces were made by stretching the tape.
| Recreating all that _exactly_ in modern PCB software is
| somewhere between difficult and impossible. I also seem to
| recall that the best existing replica PCB designs
| intentionally have small discrepancies from the original to
| make them detectable as replicas.
|
| - Getting a PCB made with period correct materials. The
| specific materials used to make those PCBs in 1976 aren't
| in use anymore. I know at least one replica builder has
| tried to get as close as possible by having a PCB
| manufacturer go back to older methods, but even then, I
| don't think they were able to get it 100% accurate.
|
| Additionally, there are few enough Apple 1s in the world
| that most if not all of them are known, named, numbered,
| and accounted for, so you'd have to have a great backstory
| explaining where your forgery came from and why it has been
| unknown for so long. See here:
| https://www.apple1registry.com.
| linker3000 wrote:
| Yes, all parts are still available although some are getting
| scarce/expensive. There's a UK chap who occasionally makes
| replicas:
|
| https://twitter.com/Devilish_Design/status/10881650262786621...
|
| If you want the experience without the cost, there's a
| 6502-Arduino hybrid you can build:
|
| https://hackaday.io/project/26234-apple-1-mini
|
| https://github.com/tebl/RC6502-Apple-1-Replica/tree/master/R...
|
| The bare boards often come up on eBay.
| np1810 wrote:
| Awesome, thank you for the hackaday link... ;)
| chiefgeek wrote:
| I sure wish I'd kept the Apple II+ my dad sent me to college
| with. All 48k of RAM, two floppy drives and a color screen.
|
| Even more I wish I kept the shares of Apple stock I bought for
| $52 in 1992. Sold 'em right before the iPod was introduced.
| <facepalm>
| factorialboy wrote:
| The NFT of a photo of the original Apple 1 computer will probably
| sell for $4million /face-palm
| lekevicius wrote:
| NFTs are a genuinely interesting concept. Cynicism can kill
| curiosity.
|
| Edit: Photo NFT wouldn't sell for more. It's entirely different
| realm.
| colejohnson66 wrote:
| Genuinely asking: how? They seem, to me, to be a hype driven
| thing that doesn't make sense. If I buy an NFT of an art
| piece, what's stopping others from downloading the same file?
| YetAnotherNick wrote:
| It's even more ridiculous for tweet. It's not even that
| after spending millions of dollar the buyer got any special
| right to that tweet. If I would buy a tweet, at minimum I
| would like an edit access over that tweet and contract that
| the "real" owner can't delete it.
| krallja wrote:
| > I would like an edit access over that tweet
|
| I'd like that on my own tweets, to start.
| flyingchipmann wrote:
| Not disagreeing with you. Just saying that this is the
| exact purpose of the NFT - to show that you are the owner
| of the digital piece, i.e having the receipt/bragging right
| of it. It has nothing to do with the distribution. Anyone
| can have a copy.
| factorialboy wrote:
| > to show that you are the owner of the digital piece
|
| Claim of ownership is overrated.
|
| It's just a record on a blockchain.
|
| It is trivial to fork said blockchain, and have a
| conflicting claim setup on the fork.
| flyingchipmann wrote:
| If you can't tell from my tone, just saying that I am
| critical of it.
| nuclearnice1 wrote:
| It's trivial to fork a blockchain in the sense that it's
| trivial to print factorialboy bucks.
|
| It's harder to fork the Ethereum blockchain in the same
| sense that it's hard to convince people to accept
| factorial bucks over old fashioned USD.
| factorialboy wrote:
| https://twitter.com/smdiehl/status/1445795667826208770
| lekevicius wrote:
| First: I'd like to hear feedback why my previous comment
| was heavily downvoted. Was it too condescending?
|
| It's not about having access to content, but about owning
| the "thing". You might buy a painting and post high
| resolution scans of it: good enough for people to make very
| convincing copies. But it doesn't affect the ownership of
| the thing.
|
| NFT is not so much the content, but a record of ownership
| on the blockchain. And for digital content, that "doesn't
| make sense" outside of digital realm, it's a very natural
| tool to produce ability to own something digital.
| quickthrower2 wrote:
| What does ownership mean though? It's purely a status at
| best.
| fny wrote:
| There are applications beyond art. Art NFTs are a toy.
| Think bigger.
|
| https://www.citydao.io/
|
| FYI I'm not a huge crypto person, I don't know if the above
| is trustworthy, but it's an example of what you could do.
| God's knows if it works or collapses in a fire, but it's
| fun to watch.
| BadOakOx wrote:
| It doesn't have to be something digital... We could move
| owning real life objects to NFT contracts. Like owning a
| car would be tracked on the blockchain and there is no
| paperwork needed about it.
| [deleted]
| phatfish wrote:
| > The NFT of a photo of the original Apple 1 computer will
| probably sell for $4million /face-palm
|
| 4 million _Tether_. Do these NFT valuations ever touch real
| dollars?
| giansegato wrote:
| They do. I know many artists that are now materially rich.
| giansegato wrote:
| To be fair, an NFT is significantly more liquid.
| charcircuit wrote:
| Why would you ever want to buy this instead of spending 1% and
| get a super powerful computer?
| jazzyjackson wrote:
| people like to collect things, especially if they represent
| some moment in history
| Sindisil wrote:
| Because a thing may have value beyond its utility?
|
| Because it's a unique, historically significant artefact?
|
| Because you can afford to, it hurts literally no one, and it
| will make you happy?
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