Apple Computer II Manual With Steve Jobs Signature Sold For $800,000

If the item is rare enough, collectors are willing to pay almost any price. A well-preserved original manual for the Apple II computer is iconic in itself, with an autograph from Apple’s co-founder Steven Paul Jobs (Steve Jobs), the piece of tech history brings in almost $800,000.

Apple II Manual Goes To Highest Bidder At The Auction

With the Apple II, Steve Wozniak, as the sole developer of the computer, which went into series production, definitely set a monument to himself as a legend of early computer history. After its appearance in 1977, the calculator also had a decisive influence on the early history of the Apple company – and because of its success, making it possible to go public in 1980. Now, a very special piece referencing this story is fetching a staggering $ 787.484 at an auction in the United States.

This is not, however, a well-preserved Apple II itself, but the operating instructions that came with the computer. The 196-page long document alone would probably not induce a collector to dig so deep into his pocket. The value now achieved is due to a rare dedication that was personally written by Steve Jobs.

Jobs and the then Apple co-boss Mike Markkula immortalized themselves on the operating instructions during a promotional tour in Great Britain in 1980. The recipient was Julian Brewer, son of a former Apple sales partner in the United Kingdom. “Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go and change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980,” wrote the then 25-year-old Jobs.

Sports official wins auction

In the end, Jim Irsay, sports official, and owner of the Indianapolis Colts won the bid for almost 800,000 US dollars. As Irsay explains in a statement to the auction company RR Auction from Boston, his great admiration for Steve Jobs led him to the expensive investment: “When we think of the greatest and most innovative minds of the last two centuries, Steve Jobs is certainly one of them. Jobs was a truly transformative figure who changed the way people think, do business, and interact on a daily basis.”