Re: Hey check out this auction !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bryan G Villados <news001@macgeek.org>]

In article <37be2e19@news1.us.ibm.net>, JPFinch <steven.wong@ibm.net>
wrote:

Seeing it's a historical item, I wonder if Bill Gates will end up
buying it, like the Leonardo DaVinci notes and the photo archives?
Maybe he'll buy it to steal some ideas!

Speaking of the photos. I did buy a set from computerjones, and what I
received are pretty impressive! Included were photocopies of two
checks, which were supposedly written to Apple by the guy who bought
the Apple I that's currently being sold on eBay. The first check was
written for $600, which looks like it's lower than the $666.66 that's
been spreading around. So probably the prototypes were sold at a lower
price than the final product. The second check was written a couple of
weeks later for $193.00 to purchase software written by Steve Jobs. I
guess the guy realized just turning it on didn't thrill him that much!
:)

The set also included color photographs of the Apple I, which looks
like it was printed on a dye-sub color printer. The photos are pretty
clear, so you can see the components. You can't read the writings on
the chips or anything like that. However, the quality should be good
enough for someone to scan and shoot off to the Woz for authentication.

And, it has a photocopy of the cover of the Apple I manual. This is the
cover that displays the old Apple logo where Sir Issac Newton is
sitting under a tree with the Apple hanging on a limb. This logo was
soon replaced with the 6-color logo that we're all familiar with.

I'm really happy with the set. I'm the curator for an Apple Museum I'm
assembling in Hawaii (over 40 computers and 200+ volumes of
documentation), and these documents are a nice addition to my other
documentation. I also have in the collection the 1984 Apple Computer
Annual Report, first four issues of MacWorld, BYTE January 1984,
SoftTalk Janury 1984, etc. So if you're planning on being in Hawaii on
October, let me know... I'm scheduled to display the Museum at three
functions on the Island of Oahu.


> Based on 2 earlier auctions this person held, it appears that they may
> indeed have the stipulated item.
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=135920491
> http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=125985859
> 
> Best way to determine this is to ask this buyer about the pictures and
> copies that they received
> 
> Unless you're going to use this item for historical value, then it would
> be a complete waste otherwise.  This item should really be priceless
> and stored in a museum; as this marks the beginnings of the PC era
> which I believe has done more for the world than the prior generation
> of large scale mainframes/minicomputers.
> 
> Wouldn't it be funny (maybe tragic) if someone just had extra money
> (perhaps from day-trading bounties) and just decided to play around
> with the machine and tossed it aside?  Almost like finding a missing
> copy of the Declaration Of Independance and scribbling notes on it.

---
Bryan G. Villados
HMAUS Historian/Curator
http://www.hmaus.com/
http://www.macgeek.org/