5 ms·

The solved riddle of the Apple-1 serial number

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
adamhearn 5y ago
Link to the original article: https://www.apple1registry.com/en/serial.html https://www.apple1registry.com/en/serial.html
- dang 5y ago
  Changed to that from https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/17/handwritten-apple-1-serial-number-mystery/ https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/17/handwritten-apple-1-serial-nu.... Thanks! (From the guidelines: "Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)
tyingq 5y ago
Some Steve Jobs handwritten docs with numbers on them, if you wanted to make the comparison yourself: https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JobsDoodles001-780x925.jpg https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-con... https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JobsDoodles002-780x999.jpg https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-con... http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/atari-steve-jobs.jpg http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012... https://www.mactrast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Apple-1_ad_banner-800x457.jpg https://www.mactrast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Apple-1_... https://photos5.appleinsider.com/archive/jobs-111222.jpg https://photos5.appleinsider.com/archive/jobs-111222.jpg https://cdn.hiconsumption.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Steve-Jobs-Handwritten-Letter-Auction-0-Hero.jpg https://cdn.hiconsumption.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Ste... https://news.justcollecting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/jobs-apple-main-1.jpg https://news.justcollecting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/j...
- SeanLuke 5y ago
  It's the 7 that's the giveaway.
  - tyingq 5y ago
    The zero as well...the start/end stroke overlap happening top/left-ish.
TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
Why is It important to know who wrote these serial numbers?
- lapetitejort 5y ago
  Obsessing over small details like this can be illustrative of the company culture at the time. Knowing that Steve Jobs himself wrote the numbers means that they handled all parts personally to some degree. More bluntly, on a site devoted to a single computer model, every shared scuff mark on some part will get obsessed over by someone.
  - reaperducer 5y ago
    Knowing that Steve Jobs himself wrote the numbers I have been repeatedly told by the Woz worshippers on HN that Jobs was nothing more than a salesman who has zero involvement with the actual machines. If I can't believe revisionist internet historians, who can I believe?
    - suprjami 5y ago
      One of Jobs' first jobs was a board tech at Atari. He must have had some circuit-level skills to stay employed, even if he could only follow pre-made designs and the troubleshooting tactics of those around him. He could probably solder components on an already-designed board like any of us could if we put our mind to it. It seems correct that Jobs didn't have the skills to design a large circuit board from scratch then pore over IC datasheets to try and minimise the amount of components used, coming up with some beautiful triumph of electrical engineering. That was all Woz. (I'm not any sort of Jobs fan or Apple zealot, I just like tech history and truth)
      - bombcar 5y ago
        More importantly, it was the Steve Jobs of the time who wrote those numbers, not the Steve Jobs of billionaire Apple fame. When you've only a few employees and you need to ship, everyone pitches in.
sydthrowaway 5y ago
The start of the greatest hustle of all time.
sydthrowaway 5y ago
This article is written in a seriously weird manner.
- xeeeeeeeeeeenu 5y ago
  It seems the main purpose of that website is to pump the Apple-1 market. It shills certificates of authenticity, outrageous auction prices and makes preposterous claims like "the Apple-1 is the rarest microcomputer in the world".
  - dmonitor 5y ago
    As soon as PSA was listed as the verifier, my shill detector started going off. They are a very shady company
    - colejohnson66 5y ago
      How so?
- xenomachina 5y ago
  Yeah, it feels like the author wrote all the things they wanted to say as separate sentences, sometimes multiple times, and then randomized the order of the sentences. Really weird structure.
  - bmn__ 5y ago
    It's a press release, the material edited to several lengths in order to increase adoption among the press agencies and other recipients. I have seen this practice a few times.
- armadsen 5y ago
  I agree. But also, the author is not a native English speaker.
ddingus 5y ago
I love this move to explore our computing history. It's a lot more than the popular retro machines. It's so much, languages, people, systems, ideas... Enjoying all of it very much. We have a rich history filled with vibrant people who really got after the future in their own way.
datavirtue 5y ago
Uh...Steve said he didn't write them. That will cast serious doubt on this as more years pass.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Link to the original article: https://www.apple1registry.com/en/serial.html https://www.apple1registry.com/en/serial.html

dang 5y ago
Changed to that from https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/17/handwritten-apple-1-serial-number-mystery/ https://9to5mac.com/2022/02/17/handwritten-apple-1-serial-nu.... Thanks! (From the guidelines: "Please submit the original source. If a post reports on something found on another site, submit the latter." https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

tyingq 5y ago

Some Steve Jobs handwritten docs with numbers on them, if you wanted to make the comparison yourself: https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JobsDoodles001-780x925.jpg https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-con... https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/JobsDoodles002-780x999.jpg https://www.cultofmac.com/ezoimgfmt/cdn.cultofmac.com/wp-con... http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/atari-steve-jobs.jpg http://site-macgasm.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2012... https://www.mactrast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Apple-1_ad_banner-800x457.jpg https://www.mactrast.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Apple-1_... https://photos5.appleinsider.com/archive/jobs-111222.jpg https://photos5.appleinsider.com/archive/jobs-111222.jpg https://cdn.hiconsumption.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Steve-Jobs-Handwritten-Letter-Auction-0-Hero.jpg https://cdn.hiconsumption.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Ste... https://news.justcollecting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/jobs-apple-main-1.jpg https://news.justcollecting.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/j...

SeanLuke 5y ago
It's the 7 that's the giveaway.
- tyingq 5y ago
  The zero as well...the start/end stroke overlap happening top/left-ish.

TedDoesntTalk 5y ago

Why is It important to know who wrote these serial numbers?

lapetitejort 5y ago
Obsessing over small details like this can be illustrative of the company culture at the time. Knowing that Steve Jobs himself wrote the numbers means that they handled all parts personally to some degree. More bluntly, on a site devoted to a single computer model, every shared scuff mark on some part will get obsessed over by someone.
- reaperducer 5y ago
  Knowing that Steve Jobs himself wrote the numbers I have been repeatedly told by the Woz worshippers on HN that Jobs was nothing more than a salesman who has zero involvement with the actual machines. If I can't believe revisionist internet historians, who can I believe?
  - suprjami 5y ago
    One of Jobs' first jobs was a board tech at Atari. He must have had some circuit-level skills to stay employed, even if he could only follow pre-made designs and the troubleshooting tactics of those around him. He could probably solder components on an already-designed board like any of us could if we put our mind to it. It seems correct that Jobs didn't have the skills to design a large circuit board from scratch then pore over IC datasheets to try and minimise the amount of components used, coming up with some beautiful triumph of electrical engineering. That was all Woz. (I'm not any sort of Jobs fan or Apple zealot, I just like tech history and truth)
    - bombcar 5y ago
      More importantly, it was the Steve Jobs of the time who wrote those numbers, not the Steve Jobs of billionaire Apple fame. When you've only a few employees and you need to ship, everyone pitches in.

sydthrowaway 5y ago

The start of the greatest hustle of all time.

sydthrowaway 5y ago

This article is written in a seriously weird manner.

xeeeeeeeeeeenu 5y ago
It seems the main purpose of that website is to pump the Apple-1 market. It shills certificates of authenticity, outrageous auction prices and makes preposterous claims like "the Apple-1 is the rarest microcomputer in the world".
- dmonitor 5y ago
  As soon as PSA was listed as the verifier, my shill detector started going off. They are a very shady company
  - colejohnson66 5y ago
    How so?
xenomachina 5y ago
Yeah, it feels like the author wrote all the things they wanted to say as separate sentences, sometimes multiple times, and then randomized the order of the sentences. Really weird structure.
- bmn__ 5y ago
  It's a press release, the material edited to several lengths in order to increase adoption among the press agencies and other recipients. I have seen this practice a few times.
armadsen 5y ago
I agree. But also, the author is not a native English speaker.

ddingus 5y ago

I love this move to explore our computing history. It's a lot more than the popular retro machines. It's so much, languages, people, systems, ideas... Enjoying all of it very much. We have a rich history filled with vibrant people who really got after the future in their own way.

datavirtue 5y ago

Uh...Steve said he didn't write them. That will cast serious doubt on this as more years pass.