That’s a lot of money for a few bits of wood, plastic and metal but it is fair to say that while $905,000 (£563,904) is a lot of money, the Apple 1’s place in the pantheon of IT history, alongside that of its designer Steve Wozniak, should be somewhere very close to the front.
According to the auctioneers the Apple 1 was expected to sell for between $300,000 and $500,000 before the Henry Ford Museum of Dearborn, Michigan, stepped in to buy it.
Fascinating to watch the Apple I become such a collectors item.
Auction prices often go beyond what’s expected. In the gem world, the ultra-rich are vying for the best stones and driving prices to stratospheric levels compared to the past. Auction houses don’t dare guess how much stones go for these days. If they were to guess accurately, they’d probably scare too many people off from getting involved in the first place.
The ultra rich no doubt also love to buy tech’s historical icons. And shoot, almost $1 million for a unique object in the world like the Apple I is nothing compared to the last blue diamond that hit a record price of £ 60 million.