17 Nov
2009
17 Nov
'09
10:10 p.m.
I agree with this completely. It is rare, historically relevant, and was a fairly popular
kit computer for the time. It's also by a company that still exists today, unlike
every other kit computer from the 70's, and as such has a wide fanbase.
________________________________
From: Seth Morabito <sethm at loomcom.com>
To: General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts <cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tue, November 17, 2009 4:03:32 PM
Subject: Re: Non-fake Apple 1 on ebay
On Nov 17, 2009, at 1:35 PM, Jules Richardson wrote:
Curt @ Atari Museum wrote:
Why is an ounce of gold worth $1000? Because that's what people will pay for it. It
has no inherent use; you can't eat it, you can't live in it, you can't keep
warm with it. But someone will give you $800 for it and come away feeling like they've
got a great bargain indeed.
They are expensive because they are very rare. They are expensive because they are the
"first" for a very well known company. Why is the first issue of "Action
Comics" worth so much more than the sixth issue (by a factor of 24!), or worth so
much more than the first issue of "Wonder Comics"? Because it's a first, and
because it's very rare, and it's from a very well known name, and therefore people
will pay money for it. Same with the Apple I.
There's nothing to get, really, apart from human nature.
-Seth
There are only around 250 of them, they were hand
built in Woz's garage, mostly by Steve Woz and Jobs and only a few have surfaced over
the years making them rare and they have continued to go up in value over the years as
more and more publicly known auctions and sales have made headlines on major site and the
SJ Mercury Newspaper, so they fetch big bucks.
It's the insanely high price I can't work out, I suppose. History's littered
with early 'home' machines with low production runs, and machines from that sort
of era (give a couple of years!) and with that sort of spec.