Apple-1 Computer Prototype Board #0 sold for $2.75M | Hacker News Reader

Apple-1 Computer Prototype Board #0 sold for $2.75M

rrauction.com

65 pointsqingcharles29 comments

Apple 1 launch price $600. Googles ai said 1k investment at 1980's IPO worth 2.5m today. So if you invested 600 that is 1.5m. It would have sat idle 1976 to 1980.

So board #0 beat the stock price but only just. And I am comparing board 0 to any old apple 1.

For on additional $200, you could've had 10% of Apple

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Wayne

$666, IIRC.

$666.66

Just been reading iWoz by the man himself which goes into details on the design of the Apple-1

Worth a read if you like electronics and computers and written in an engaging style.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IWoz

iWoz is hands down the best memoirs I have read, I very much agree with your suggestion

I need that "RUB OUT" key on my keyboard

The ZX81 had that too, at least the UK ones did.

The keyboard itself, er, takes some getting used to. But they are a little cheaper.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZX81#/media/File:Sinclair-ZX81...

The schematic diagram features an interesting Apple logo that I've never seen before. I've always been told that the old-timey one on the cover of the manual was the only logo predating the six colors one with the bite out of it.

I'm thinking that was just a typeface (looks like Profil) that was available to their printer. It also shows up in the word WARRANTY in the back of the manual:

https://s3data.computerhistory.org/brochures/apple.applei.19...

Ah, interesting. I'm imagining that the printer asked them, 'Where's your logo, we'll put it here in this space,' and they sent over the giant woodcut thing and the printer says, "You know what, nevermind, I don't think we need it here after all."

Has definite corrosion, maybe needs a recap, and untested. I'm guessing it's sold as "parts / as-is / no refund". ;) I'd like to see it restored and made usable with a custom wooden case appropriate for an Apple-I.

(I buy a lot of 90's-era vintage computer components, so this is another 20 years older and predates my existence. I'm sad that when I met Woz when I was 5 when his castle house v1.0 had just finished construction, I wasn't told who he was and didn't get to see his computer gear; I was probably too distracted by the steepness of Harwood Rd being suitable for maximum skateboard and bicycle velocity.)

$2.75m??? How does Apple get away with these prices?

If I was a billionaire I hope I’d buy artifacts like this and donate them for posterity. This is a really cool piece of history.

Paul Allen did this, until he died and really left no continuation for his museum, which is crazy to me.

For folks who are in the area (or might be visiting), the recently opened Interim Computer Museum has quite a collection of vintage systems:

https://icm.museum/?faq

Does anyone know the history of the previous owners?

Sick, now loan it to Computer History Museum so I can have a look

I’ve got an Apple II I’ll take 500k ;)

WTF is a "computer-rated" capacitor?

High capacitance, low voltage. Computers were somewhat unusual at the time in terms of requiring a lot of current at 5 Volts. The line frequency power supplies were inefficient enough even under optimal circumstances. I've seen some giant transformers from minicomputers of the day. And those huge blue capacitors the size of beer cans.

Apple II was one of the early PC's that used a switching power supply, and it wasn't particularly reliable. I worked at an Apple repair facility, and we replaced a lot of them. But our most common repairs were due to the huge number of chip sockets and low quality gold fingers on the disk controller board edge connector. We were a government agency (county run facility serving a bunch of semi rural school districts) and didn't charge a bench fee. If we could fix it on the spot by just pressing all of the chips back into their sockets, the repair was free and we didn't even log it.

It was about 110 chips on the original II wasn't it? Or maybe it's the II+ I'm thinking of. Anyway, it was a boatload of MSI parts.

I only remember the II+, but both were dense with chips. The IIe had fewer chips as I recall. That level of complexity wasn't unheard of at the time. When the IBM PC came out, only a few of the chips were in sockets (the CPU and RAM/ROM), and people were nervous about repairability, but IBM pointed out that they had studied it to death over the years, and that the chips were more reliable than the sockets.

At the time, it was a type of capacitor targeting the specific voltage ranges and tolerances to be useful for a computer.

It's a thing that still shows up in a web search (but is far less meaningful).

Makes sense, I take for granted how great modern electrolytic caps are compared to 50 years ago.

The actual term is "computer grade electrolytic capacitor," designed for long-term service in high current linear power supplies. You can still get them, even though few computers use linear supplies these days: https://www.mouser.com/c/passive-components/capacitors/alumi...

Someone needs to create a Fallout 4 module that has the vibe of “Citizen Kane”.

How about "Citizen Kanye?"

No.

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