Re: Apple I Auction Article

["Michael J. Mahon" <mjmahon@aol.com>]

Toinet wrote:

> Thanks for your interesting comments, I've learned a lot.
>
> I wonder whether the current success of Apple with their i**** is not
> a factor of success for the price of the Apple I.

Absolutely.  That's a major reason that an OST Superboard isn't so
valuable.

If OSI were around today sourcing major innovative products as a
multi-billion dollar company, and the Superboard were their maiden
product, it would likely attract a great deal of attention.

"The first" of something that becomes huge is always seen as
important.  And many people would like to have "the first of a
long and successful line of products".

> Offer vs demand is one thing but nowadays where TV/marketing rule, I'd
> like to know whether press coverage or auction house power is not
> responsible for
>. . .
> (ahhhh, bad click, I really dislike those modern Apple keyboards)
>
> ...responsible for a high price, how do we say... pollution... oh,
> cannot find the right word (sorry, i'm exhausted)... yes... viral
> marketing...
>
> What difference between the Huston brothers' Apple I and the one on
> Christies? The opening price? The "noise" around it? See, in the
> articles I've read about it, nobody said a word about Steve W., there
> were all targeted to Steve J., I really believe people are formatted
> for a few icons, and SJ is, let's say, more attractive than SW,
> despite the fact that we know the importance of the work of SW. (BTW,
> same with Bill Gates vs Steve Ballmer, the first one is a philantrop
> (wording) and the second the CEO of MS)

I don't give Ballmer as much credit for Microsoft's success as I
give Jobs for Apple's.  Jobs has a clear creative role at Apple,
while Ballmer is, at most, a businessman.

Like Woz for Apple, Gates actually did some of the product creation
that made "Micro Soft" a company.

> Who's your icon?

SW, for sure.  ;-)  Or the "Wizard of Woz", the ubergeek, etc.  ;-)
The Apple II design is very sweet, but the Disk ][ Controller is the
most sublime piece of engineering I can point to.

Just as no one knows what the Apple II was, thinking it must be some
kind of Mac, the public has forgotten what role Woz played in the
beginning of Apple.  In another year or two, they won't even remember
that it used to be "Apple Computer".  ;-)

The recent episode of Big Bang Theory with Woz guesting used his
appearance on Dancing With the Stars to connect non-geeks (Penny)
with his role as a founder of Apple (but I'd wager that very few have
any idea what his contribution was).

-michael

NadaNet and AppleCrate II: parallel computing for Apple II computers!
Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~mjmahon

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