Woman Throws Away Original Apple Computer Worth $200,000
You may be familiar with the Apple II, the inexpensive yet powerful home computer that put Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on the map. It wasn’t called “II” for no reason — there really was an Apple 1, but it was literally assembled in a garage by Jobs, Wozniak, and a man named Ron Wayne in 1976. It consisted of a keyboard and a naked circuit board…it was up to the purchaser to supply some kind of box to contain it in, as well as a monitor to display the data. Only around 200 were made, by hand, by the legendary pair (and Ron Wayne). One year later they refined their process, got some funding and launched the Apple II.
Given its significance in history, Apple 1s are extremely valuable when they can be found. An unidentified retiree had no idea when she cleaned out her late husband’s garage, found his old Apple 1 and dumped it off for recycling at the plant. The plant workers recognized it immediately.
Well, immediately AFTER they had let the woman’s boxes sit for weeks, waiting for inventory count. Once they made the discovery, they unfortunately had no way of notifying her — she didn’t leave her contact information and she never asked for a tax receipt.
The recycling plant has now sold the Apple 1 to a private collection for $200,000. It is policy for the company to give 50% of any profits they make from donated refuse to the original donator. Hopefully the woman will see the original report from the Associated Press and beat a path down there. They have a $100,000 check waiting for her — whenever she shows up.