RR Auction: Presenting the Apple-1 and innovative legacy of Steve Jobs

The accompanying documentation includes the original Apple-1 Operation Manual and two original Apple Cassette Interface manuals, disbound and three hole–punched for storage in a binder. These manuals feature the original “Apple Computer Co.” logo, designed by third Apple co-founder Ron Wayne, on the covers. The Operation Manual features information on getting the system running, using the system monitor, and expanding the Apple system, and has a fold-out schematic of the Apple-1 computer. The page headed “6502 Hex Monitor Listing”—a famous program commonly known as the ‘Woz Monitor’—has several areas covered with white-out which are known to have hand corrections on many of the surviving Apple-1 document sets. On the back of the manual are some handwritten technical notations, including the contact information at Apple for Dan Kottke (here spelled “Cotkey”), a college friend of Steve Jobs who joined Apple in 1977 as employee #12. Kottke would have been a key person for Apple-1 support in 1977. The two ACI manuals are identical, with one manual having handwritten notations on the front and exhibiting some light soiling.

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RR Auction: Presenting the Apple-1 and innovative legacy of Steve Jobs

Published on Aug 17, 2018

RR Auction

An amazing, fully functional later production ‘Byte Shop’–style Apple-1 computer (also commonly known as the Apple I, or Apple Computer 1), complete with all components and accessories required for operation. The Apple-1 was originally conceived by Steve Jobs and Steve ‘Woz’ Wozniak as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, their initial market being Palo Alto’s Homebrew Computer Club. Seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Aiming to elevate the computer beyond the realm of the hobbyist, Terrell agreed to purchase 50 Apple-1 computers, but only if they were fully assembled. The Apple-1 thus became one of the first ‘personal’ computers which did not require soldering by the end user. All together, over a span of about ten months, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them.