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<\/a><\/center><\/p>\n[ Update: 02\/11\/2010<\/strong> – Rick Conte donated this Apple I to the Maine Personal Computer Museum in 2009 ]<\/em><\/p>\n It’s not every day that an original Apple I goes up for sale. In fact, it’s not every year<\/em> that an Apple I goes up for sale. In case you didn’t know, the Apple I is an exceedingly rare machine.<\/p>\n Apple co-founders Wozniak and Steve Jobs originally sold the Apple I for $666.66 (US) in 1976. With the help of friends, the duo built each and every Apple I by hand, although admittedly, there’s wasn’t much to the primitive machine. It shipped without an enclosure, keyboard, power supply, or display; the buyer was expected to furnish those parts. (Many people built them into briefcases, like the one seen here.)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We did 2 production runs of 100 each,” recalls Woz. “Out of those 200, perhaps 150 were sold. But the others may be in people’s hands, employees from when we switched to the Apple ][.”<\/p>\n As far as how many Apple Is survive to this day, I’d personally guess that most of them are still around somewhere: if you were prescient enough to buy an Apple I in 1976, you’re probably not the kind of person who would throw it away. But unless everyone who owns an Apple I stands up and raises their hand, we’ll never be sure — and how many languish forgotten in dank basements or dusty attics across the country?<\/p>\nHow rare? Well, various sources on the net say that about 200 units of Apple’s first computer were produced, and perhaps 30-50 survive to this day. To find out the truth behind these numbers, I checked with the designer of the Apple I himself, Steve Wozniak. But first, it’s time for a little history.<\/p>\n