UPDATE: Click here to read an article about the photos.
Three original vintage circa 1976 Polaroid snapshot photographs from Steve Jobs's 'pitch deck' for the Apple-1 Computer, each measuring 3.5 x 4.25, given by Jobs to pioneering computer retailer Paul Terrell, owner of the Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, during Jobs's historic 1976 demo of the device. On seeing Steve Jobs's demonstration of the Apple-1, Paul Terrell gave Apple their first big sale—a 'COD' (Cash On Delivery) purchase order for 50 Apple-1 Computers on 'Net 30' terms, which provided Jobs with the seed capital funds to start manufacturing the computers and allowed Apple Computer to establish credit with its suppliers of component parts.
The Polaroids show Steve Jobs's prototype Apple-1 board (then denoted "Apple Computer A") hooked up to an uncased Amkey keyboard and standard CRT video monitor: one photo shows an overview of the setup, one shows a closer angle of the computer board itself, and the other shows the computer in action, with a program running on the screen that concludes in: "This is the Apple Computer-1." In overall fine condition.
The Apple-1 was originally conceived by Steve Jobs and Steve ‘Woz’ Wozniak as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, their initial market being Palo Alto’s Homebrew Computer Club. Seeking a larger audience, Jobs approached Paul Terrell, owner of The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, one of the first personal computer stores in the world. Aiming to elevate the computer beyond the realm of the hobbyist, Terrell agreed to purchase 50 Apple-1 computers, but only if they were fully assembled. The Apple-1 thus became one of the first ‘personal’ computers which did not require soldering by the end user. All together, over a span of about ten months, Jobs and Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers and sold 175 of them.
These three Polaroids originate directly from Paul Terrell; they were famously published in Harry McCracken's 'Technologizer' column in Time Magazine on November 22, 2012, under the title, 'Behold, Some of the First Apple Computer Photos Ever.' RR Auction sold the Apple-1 prototype pictured in 2022 for over $677,000, at which time these photos received further media coverage worldwide. Though previously believed to have been taken by Terrell during Jobs's demonstration, his recollection is that Jobs had prepared them as part of his original 'pitch deck' and left them at the Byte Shop.
The Byte Shop's $25,000 purchase order forever changed the course of Apple Computer, Inc.—what Jobs and Woz had conceived as part of a $40 do-it-yourself kit for hobbyists became, at Terrell's request, a fully assembled personal computer to be sold at $666.66. Steve Wozniak later placed Terrell's purchase order for fifty Apple-1s in perspective: 'That was the biggest single episode in all of the company's history. Nothing in subsequent years was so great and so unexpected.'
Provenance:
Steve Jobs
Paul Terrell (accompanied by his letter of provenance)
Loaned to Living Computer Museum (with two Polaroids retaining museum inventory labels on the reverse)
