The photo of Steve Jobs is from his time at NeXT Computer. (Image: RR Auctions)
Old computers keep turning up in barns or attics, but much rarer are original Polaroids of the devices, taken by the inventor himself.
Yes, what you see in the picture above are three pictures of the first Apple computer and they were taken by none other than Steve Jobs himself – in 1976.
The auction house RR Auction is currently auctioning three Polaroids of the Apple-1. Currently, the snapshots are priced at $2,148, which is three times more than the computer cost at the time.
This can be seen in the pictures:
- The board
- The board and a caseless monitor
- A monitor running Apple’s own BASIC
Why did Steve Jobs take the pictures? The tech pioneer used the snapshots to convince his first customer, Paul Terrell, to buy the Apple computer. He eventually ordered 50 units for his store, Byte Shop, and gave Steve Jobs the start-up capital he needed. So it worked.
What was inside the first Apple computer? For the price of 666.66 US dollars (adjusted for inflation, that would be 3,680.98 US dollars today), you got quite impressive technology for 1976.
- 4 bus 8 KB RAM
- A built-in video terminal
- A built-in keyboard interface that could be connected to monitors and TVs.
- 1K dedicated video memory
- Apples Version von BASIC
After all, the Apple-1 laid the foundation for the much more successful Apple II computer.
Where does the strange price come from of 666.66 US dollars? It has nothing to do with Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast (although Jobs and Wozniak did argue about the price). 666 US dollars was about three times the price of the components – and three times six attracts attention
The auction house has even more from Apple
If you click through the auction items on offer, even more pictures will appear. A few highlights:
- Rare temporary ID cards for Steve Jobs and eight other founding employees of NeXT Computer. Preis: 4.239 US-Dollar.
- A check from Apple Computer Company signed by Steve Jobs, signed on July 4, sealed and rated MINT 9 (out of 10) by the PSA. Preis: 7.222 US-Dollar.
- A check signed by Steve Jobs for Apple Computer, but before the company even existed. Preis: 15.486 US-Dollar
- The leather jacket that Steve Jobs wore in the picture when he shows the middle finger to the IBM logo (on Reddit to see). Preis: 10.000 US-Dollar.
There are many more finds about Apple. Feel free to click through the gallery of the Auction House.
If you want the Polaroids, the checks or the leather jacket, you have to hurry. The auction runs until August 22nd and it is expected that the price will continue to rise. The finds are rare in any case.
Do you have something rare at home that once belonged to a great personality? Do you understand the personality cult surrounding Steve Jobs? Feel free to write it in the comments.
