There are stories worth telling in books. The first Mac computer was announced in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII between the Los Angeles Raiders and the Washington Redskins. Called “1984”, This visual punch was shot by Ridley Scott and reported about $3.5 million in benefits a minute after it aired. A team that has left an indelible mark.
But it wasn’t even Apple’s special: the company reserved a very rare limited edition that looks like something out of a Star Wars movie, with that aged and stitched leather with gold-finish flaps. Another prototype of the previously lost commercial model: One of these editions was recently discovered and auctioned off for a real fortune.
The original story of a unique Mac
All the information about this Macintosh 128K is contained in a Google doc recorded by restorer Steven Matarazzo, an experienced collector known for his mac84 Youtube channel. In his own words, “on July 6, 2022 Beth Ross brought me this prototype Macintosh 128K system for inspection.“During the past six months, Matarazzo has been running various tests to analyze the health of the system —more fully operational—.
This particular model belonged to Joanna Hoffman. She was the right-hand man of Steve Jobs, one of the architects of the brand’s overall commercial strategy and marketing director of the Macintosh 128k itself. As MIT grads, she and Jef Raskin met at a conference at Xerox PARC. Raskin was so impressed with her qualities that he immediately offered her a job. Years later he would be part of the NeXT team and in recent years it has been the star of the Spanish company Sherpa.
As can be seen in the various photos of the original article, the computer is signed by all members of the original team. The signature of famous people like Bill Fernandez or Ronald Wayne stands out in the middle, as well as the Mr. Macintosh stamp on the EPROM disc. Mr. Macintosh was just the nickname of Steve Jobs himself – one of many, he was also called Mr. Apple Computerman.
Sold for over $16,000
However, the equipment did not end up in the hands of Steven Matarazzo, but in the hands of an individual who paid $16,500 on March 16, 2023 for the equipment including the keyboard and mouse, along with the carrying backpack and the rest of the cables and accessories.
A little piece of history like no other, recorded with the “Cº39” analog board and the “Cº23” logic board, both manufactured in 1983. It’s amazing to know that it even turns on and that it’s still working Most of its components work with perfect service.
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Source : www.applesfera.com