Apple 1 Auction Record In Germany: Original Apple Computer Sells For $671,400
The Apple 1 breaks auction record and sold for $671,400 in Germany on Saturday.
There is believed to only be six-working Apple 1 computers left, according to CNET. This Apple 1 breaks auction record for what it sold for.
Breker, the German auction house that handled the sale, sold another Apple 1 in December for $640,000, which nearly doubled the other Apple-1 sold by Sotheby's in New York last June for $374,500, according to CNET.com. Now, the Apple 1 breaks auction record for the computer that was originally built in 1976.
It was in 1976 that the Apple 1 was built in the garage of Steve Jobs' parent's garage by Steve Wozniak. Included with the Apple 1, is the original owner's manual and a signed letter from Jobs to original owner Fred Hatfield.
Auctioner Uwe Breker talked to CNET about the auction on Saturday.
"It is a superb symbol of the American dream," he told The New York Times' Bits blog. "You have two college dropouts from California who pursued an idea and a dream, and that dream becomes one of the most admired, successful, and valuable companies in the world."
In December, this is what was read in regards to the Apple 1, which was the original Apple computer that paved the way for what in today's world has the iPad, the iPhone and more.
"When Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs presented the Apple I Computer to the Homebrew Computer Club in 1976, it was dismissed by everyone but Paul Terrell, the owner of a chain of stores called Byte Shop. Terrell ordered 50 computers for $500 apiece, insisting that the circuit boards come fully assembled rather than as DIY kits similar to the Altair, and Jobs and Woz managed to produce the requisite computers in 30 days. They continued production, immediately creating 50 additional Apple 1's to sell to friends and an additional 100 to sell through vendors, at a retail price of $666.66, a number that garnered complaints among conservative Christians, but provided a lucrative 33 [percent] markup."