According to Thomas A. Edison, "genius is one per cent inspiration, ninety-nine per cent perspiration".
When Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak presented their 1st baby, a kit-form computer, to ‘Byte-Shop’ owner Paul Terrel back in 1976. Terrel was quick to see a potential problem and a gap in the market. “What I needed was an assembled and tested unit that could sell to people that really wanted to use them and not just to the technical audience”, he recalled in a 2015 interview.
Convinced, the young entrepreneurs made their first sale of 50 assembled Apple-1 units for $500 each. The 1st ready-to-use PC was born! Wozniak and Jobs contributed genius and perspiration in equal measures while Terrel, as “honorary co-founder”, provided the bolt of inspiration at just the right moment.
Apple Aficionados will have a chance to acquire a unique piece of IT history when an original Apple-1 appears at Auction Team Breker in Cologne, Germany, on 20 May 2017.
The groundbreaking first personal computer is complemented by a rare white ceramic 6502 microprocessor and a complete set of time-correct chips. In full working condition, the outfit was consigned by its first (and only) owner, a software engineer from Berkeley in California's Silicon Valley. Accompanying Apple-1 (No. 01-0073) is an archive of historic documents, including receipt of purchase from Nov. 1976, the earliest provisional manual, correspondence with Apple Inc. and even notes of telephone conversations with Wozniak in 1977.
- Estimate: €180,000 – 300,000 / US$190,000 – 320,000
World’s leading 'Science & Technology' auctioneer traces a fascinating trajectory from the iconic Apple back to the first mechanical writing machine, invented in 1867. The spherical form of Rasmus Malling-Hansen's 'Writing Ball' was to redefine the world of text-input technology forever.
- Estimate: €70,000 – 90,000 / US$75,000 – 96,000.
An inspiring selection of scientific instruments, vintage toys and mechanical life from 1800 to the present day completes the auction line-up.
Auction Team Breker is the two-time world record holder for the highest-priced Apple-1 at auction. Is a new record on the radar this May ?
Preview the sale at www.breker.com and https://www.youtube.com/user/auctionteambreker.
- Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com) -
Contact:
Auction Team Breker
Uwe H. Breker
+49 2236 38 43 420
uwe@breker.com