As happens from time to time, an original Apple I is up for auction, although you’ll need a fair bit of change to afford it — and it’s probably not worth asking Apple geniuses for help on running it.
This particular model will go under the auctioneer’s hammer on the 25th of May in Cologne, Germany if you’re still keen. You’ll need more than a few Euro lying around the place, however, with the auctioneer noting that a previous Apple I sale reached 491.868 Euro, or around $640,000.
I’ve got a lot of affection for old technology, but the same isn’t true of Apple, which only dropped mention of the Apple line of computers (as distinct from the Mac and iDevices) from its PR boilerplate that runs at the bottom of all official releases a couple of years ago. It used to lead
“Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and re-invented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh.”
but now reads
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software.
As such, if you do win the bid on the Apple I, I’d be fascinated to see what happens if you take it into an Apple Store…
Sources: YouTube, Breker