A collector has not hesitated to put more than 650,000 € on the table to afford an old Apple II computer manual. His particuliarity ? It was signed by Steve Jobs in person.
What can push a wealthy collector to spend more than 650,000 € to acquire the user manual for an old Apple II computer? It is certainly not just a question of age. As Digital Trends reported on August 22, it was an autograph signed by Steve Jobs, who died in 2011, which inflated the price of the object bringing together 196 pages (another era in terms of instructions).
” Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Will change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980. Mike Markkula, 1980. “ This message is addressed to Julian Brewer, whose father negotiated exclusive distribution rights for Apple in the UK in the late 1970s. One day his family received a visit from Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. It ended with this unique note affixed to the user manual of its Apple II.
An old Apple user manual over € 650,000
” I was in my room designing games on my Apple II when my dad asked me to come downstairs to meet some visitors. To my delight, it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and I understood much later how rare it was to see Jobs signing something, and even more so to see him write such a message. “, entrusts Julian Brewer. As indicated by the site RR Auction, in charge of the sale having reached 46 auctions and the sum of $ 787,484 (672,412 €), this autograph of Steve Jobs is certified by several letters and photos.
Jim Irsay is the new owner of this relic linked to a revolutionary computer designed by Steve Wozniak, launched in 1977 and having been very successful (5 million units sold according to Vox, a colossal performance for the time). The Apple II, capable of displaying colors and easy to use (all you had to do is plug in a screen), was particularly popular in the school sector and definitively established the Cupertino company as a major player in IT. The Apple I, its predecessor, had relied on too low a volume – 200 copies – to make it a flagship and mainstream product. Proof of its popularity, the Apple II has enjoyed great longevity: it continued to sell alongside the first Macintoshes until Apple ended its existence in 1993.
” When you think of the greatest minds of the past two decades, Steve Jobs is undeniably one of them », Confides Jim Irsay, obviously very fan of the visionary genius which made Apple a huge multinational. For the anecdote, the documents related to the Apple II often rhyme with big figures: at the end of 2020, the plans imagined by Steve Wozniak were sold for more than € 500,000 at auction.
