Handwritten Note From Steve Jobs Sells for $175K at Auction
A handwritten note from Steve Jobs has fetched $175,759 at auction.
Final bids came in yesterday for the note—a yellow piece of paper on which the Apple co-founder wrote a rough draft of an ad for the 1976 Apple-1 computer. It's not dated, but the note lists the various specs for a still-developing Apple-1, which ended up using the MOS Technology 6052 microprocessor.
At the time, it looks like Jobs envisioned the Apple-1 using a larger range of chips, including the Motorola 6800, along with the MOS 6501, 6502. He also adds: “6501, 6502 recommended because we have basic,” a likely reference to the BASIC interpreter to enter and run programs.
RR Auction, which facilitated the note’s sale, adds: “Perhaps most captivating is the price point Jobs cites in the draft: a modest $75 for the ‘board only + manual,’ which he deems a ‘real deal.’” The Apple-1 would eventually be sold for $666 as a more fully assembled computer.
The bottom of the note contains Jobs’ name, along with his phone number and parents' address in Los Altos, California, where Apple was first founded. It’s possible the note laid the groundwork for an advertisement Apple published in the July 1976 edition of Interface Magazine to promote the Apple-1 computer.
The handwritten note was previously auctioned off in 2018, where it was "only" expected to fetch between $40,000 to $60,000. Included with the note on this more recent auction are two Polaroid photos taken at The Byte Shop, where the Apple-1 was first sold, showing a working prototype of the legendary computer.
According to RR Auction, an unnamed childhood friend of Jobs obtained the handwritten note while visiting the Apple cofounder back in 1976. “It was during one of these visits that Steve gave
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