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A Piece Of History
Steve Jobs' handwritten note on Apple-1 specifications

To say that Apple and its co-founder Steve Jobs’ impact to the modern world is immense is no stretch of the imagination. To say that the company has changed the way we live with products such as iPhone is certainly not an exaggeration. At the heart of each big product launch over the past two decades was Apple’s Keynote presentation, where we witnessed Jobs’ legendary charm and presentation skills in full swing – but before all that in the founding year of Apple, it was a completely different time.

A manuscript of Steve Jobs detailing the specifications of Apple-1, the very first product of Apple recently surfaced in Bonhams’ History of Science and Technology, Including Space History auction. Written in 1976 to a longtime friend, Jobs refers to the computer as “Apple Computer-1” and states that it uses either the 6800, 6501 or 6502 microprocessor, but that the 6501 or 6502 was “recommended because we have BASIC.” He also touts the many features of Apple-1, such as the “full CRT terminal” and “58 IC’s which includes 16 for 8K RAM!!”. He signs the note as “Steven Jobs” with his then address and phone number, but not before commenting that the price of $75 for the board and manual was “a real deal”. Enclosed within the manuscript was two Polaroids of an initial build of the Apple-1 as aforementioned and its screen.

Unfortunately, this interesting note and memento of Apple History remained unsold at the auction as the highest bid of $28,000 did not meet the expected reserve – but nevertheless, it still remains as a rare insight into the magic of Jobs’ personal character.

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