Wooden computer goes for half a mil
Okay, it was the wooden-cased version of the Apple 1. They made fifty, they think nine are left, and this one is a very good example. It works. It’s got all its bits, including monitor and tape drive.
And they have the provenance: the first female graduate of Stanford Law School, a woman named June Blodgett Moore. I tried to find out more about her, but didn’t have much luck.
They estimated it would go for $300,000 but it finally sold for $475,000. I guess nostalgic geeks are all growed up and have money.
Posted: September 23rd, 2025 under personal.
Comments: 4
Comments
Comment from Jeff Weimer
Time: September 24, 2025, 3:58 am
That’s something Woz touched, directly
Comment from pokerogue
Time: September 24, 2025, 6:22 am
Wow, a wooden Apple 1 for almost half a million! Amazing piece of history. Like completing a real-world Pokerogue Dex, finding all those rare pieces is an achievement. I wonder if collectors feel the same rush completing a Pokerogue run? Seriously, though, it’s fascinating to see historical artifacts like this valued so highly. Congrats to the buyer!
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: September 24, 2025, 2:53 pm
I do think that an Apple 1 is an important historical artifact. The fact that some were esteemed (?) enough to be worthy of a custom wooden case will ultimately be seen as the 20th Century equivalent of a Gutenberg Bible in a custom tooled-leather binding.
I was there for the movement away from mainframes to PC’s, and I very much saw it as revolutionary. Previously if you wanted information from a database you had to go to IT and say. “Oh mighty priest, please ask the great god computer this question.” To which IT would usually respond, “maybe, if we get around to it. Your question isn’t important to us.” In fact our IT had a “Sunset Rule.” Any request not fulfilled in 90 days had to be resubmitted. In short, “F*ck you, little man.”
The personal computer literally set knowledge free. We didn’t need the High Priests any more. We could access information without a gatekeeper. Now that battle wasn’t won in a day, or even a year, but we, Little Men, won the war and it changed everything.
The 1984 Apple Macintosh ad (which I swear I actually saw) really, really resonated with me because it spoke the truth.
Here it is from YouTube. I don’t know it it has any meaning to people today, but it really had impact in 1984
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zfqw8nhUwA
Comment from ExpressoBold Pureblood
Time: September 24, 2025, 4:55 pm
@Some Vegetable
That outfit became the Official Hooters Restaurant Server Outfit.
True Story.
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