NEW YORK, NY.- Christies announced First Bytes: Iconic Technology From the Twentieth Century, an online-only auction featuring vintage tech products. The sale will be open for bidding from June 24 through July 9, and will include the original Apple computer, now known as the Apple-1, which was designed and hand-built in 1976 by Steve Wozniak, who later signed his work.
Consignor of the Apple-1, Ted Perry, was first introduced to Apple computers in 1977 as a project director for San Juan Unified School District, who received the first Title IV-C microcomputer grant in K-12 education. He was tasked with the goal to select the computer company to best support the project, and eventually reached out to Steve Wozniak (Woz) who was very supportive of its use for education. The project was disseminated to over 3,000 school districts across the nation, and K-12 schools for the first time ever, had a computer (Apple II) that allowed them to provide their own curriculum to the students.
Ted Perry says Apple cares about education, and as Woz supported education directly from the beginning by actively providing any and all information we needed for the project, I started collecting Apple products. As I found the Apple-1, I was delighted to add it to my collection.
The estimate for the Apple-1 is $300,000 - 500,000. Additional highlights from First Bytes: Iconic Technology From the Twentieth Century include the 20th Anniversary Macintosh Computer (1997), Translucent Mac SE (circa 1987-1990), and Prototype Macintosh Portable PC (1989).
As with all of Christies exclusive online-only auctions, all browsing and bidding for the works featured in the two-week sale is done completely online, with the click of a mouse. Registration and bidding are open to both new and established clients located anywhere in the world.
Exhibition of Apple-1:
Computer History Museum, 1401 N Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, CA 94043
June 24-27
Free and open to the public