know it’s an Apple topic rather than a Mac topic, but I couldn’t pass on the news that an Apple-1 sold at auction for £133,250 (approximately $A215,000).

Most of us would be more than happy to trouser a sum like that for an old computer, but this was a particularly good example.

The Apple-1 is a rare computer to start with. Only around 200 were made in the first place, and 50-odd are believed to still exist. It dates from the dawn of the personal computer era (1976), and in this case someone had the foresight to keep the box, manual, invoice and other materials, including a letter signed by Steve Jobs.

Another consideration is that unlike many of the early hardware makers, Apple went on to become one of the great companies of the era. Everyone knows Apple, so there are plenty of people interested in its early products.

According to reports, the new owner plans to restore his purchase to working order. Given that the device isn’t in 100% original condition (auction house Christie’s disclosed “a few slightly later additions” and some “later soldering”), that doesn’t sound like a bad idea to me.

The rest of us have probably missed the boat. While more recent but still ‘vintage’ computers are considered collectable by some, prices are relatively modest. Few examples offered on eBay seem to attract bids of $1000 or more. As I write this, the best was $US1136 for a Poly-88, a system of similar vintage to the Apple-1.

So I’m not feeling too unhappy about having sold my Commodore PET and C64 (both in their original packaging) a long time ago. I would probably still be out of pocket if I’d been paying for storage space, and big cardboard boxes score badly in terms of WAF.

Source:-http://www.hydrapinion.com/index.php/mac/2010/11/24/ca-ching-apple-1-sells-for-215-000