Sought-after 'NTI'–style Apple-1 computer (also commonly known as the Apple I, or Apple Computer 1) restored to full functionality, complete with all components and accessories required for operation. This board comes from the collection of early Apple employee Dana Redington, who has owned it since early 1978. Accompanied by a detailed letter of provenance from Redington, explaining that the Apple-1 was given to him by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak: "In early 1978, while preparing for a move to a new building, I noticed a pile of soon-to-be-discarded Apple I boards. Apple had offered a trade-in program for upgrading to the Apple II to help phase out the older board. With Wozniak and Jobs' permission, I selected the best motherboard and a couple of cassette interface cards from the pile." Prior this auction, this board was 'undiscovered' to the Apple collecting community and has never been offered for sale; it is now logged as #104 in the Apple-1 Registry.
The set includes:
• original Apple-1 'NTI' board, with label annotated "4062"
• original Apple Cassette Interface (ACI) board
• period Cherry mechanical keyboard (circa 1974) with Apple-1 compatible interface cable
• linear power supply wired for an Apple-1 based on two Triad transformers (F31-X and F40X) mounted on a wooden frame
• modern Insignia LCD TV/video monitor with Apple-1 compatible video cable
• detailed letter of provenance from Dana Redington, discussing his employment at Apple and his receipt of this board
• Dana Redington's Apple Computer business card, listing the address as 20863 Stevens Creek Blvd. in Cupertino
• Original photograph of Dana Redington and Steve Wozniak posing with the Datsun 280ZX, license plate "APPLEII," used in a 1983 TV commercial
This Apple-1 computer was restored and brought to an operational state in June 2024 by Apple-1 expert Corey Cohen. Upon initial visual inspection, this Apple-1 was missing or had damage to components including all integrated circuit chips, PROMs, 'Big Blue' capacitors, three regulators, four power diodes, a crystal oscillator, and various other components. Cohen made all board-level repairs using new old stock components; where available, all socketed components were replaced with period-correct and manufacturer-correct components. In the process, Cohen prepared a comprehensive technical report documenting the condition and restoration of the board, as well as a 'proof of life' video demonstrating its functionality, which are available to qualified bidders.
In his report, Cohen notes that the condition of the board supports the notion that it comes from the "trade-in pile which has been documented by other early Apple employees as being located in Steve Jobs’ office," as the board's ceramic capacitors exhibit some cosmetic marring "likely from being in the 'pile' of Apple-1 boards in Steve Jobs’ office where another Apple-1 board placed on top of this board had its IC socket legs contacting."
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 from 1976–77, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak produced about 200 Apple-1 computers, selling 175 of them. Building on that success, they introduced the Apple II in June 1977, which became one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products.
Dana Redington joined Apple Computer after visiting Steve Wozniak—a former neighbor and fellow graduate of Cupertino's Homestead High School—in April 1977 at the 'Good Earth building' on Stevens Creek Boulevard to demonstrate some programs he had written. Woz introduced Dana to Mike Markkula who immediately offered him a job. He was the company's first applications software engineer, developing programs for the Apple II. Redington reflects: 'I developed several demonstration programs, including a hands-free, eye-controlled version of Breakout using face electrodes, and a Star Wars-inspired program that highlighted the Apple II's high-resolution color graphics, animation, sound, and custom fonts. Woz showed it to Steve Jobs, but Jobs, not being a programmer, didn't see much value in it at the time.'
In a 2013 interview with Game Informer, Wozniak reflected on Redington's work: 'We had this guy Dana Redington. He did the first high-res game with some little spaceships going by and you’d point your gun at them and shoot them down. We called it Star Wars at first, but we had to change the name eventually. He did this great game, and Steve thought it was really lousy. I admired his work so much, and yet he got dismissed by Steve.'
Redington was abruptly let go in mid-1978, as Jobs began aiming for a more business-oriented focus in software development. He would go on to pursue software innovation in high-tech startups and medical research, receiving patents for a multi-state speech encoder/decoder and a psychophysiological reflex arc training simulator.
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