7 ms·

An Apple-1 Personal Computer

68 points by sethbannon 13y ago

sethbannon 13y ago
Warning: zooming in and examining each component in detail is a huge time suck. Lot's of fun though.
- orta 13y ago
  (disclaimer: I work for Artsy where this is hosted ) Agreed, I loved reading the smaller copy on the schematics! I don't understand the electrics but I certainly appreciate the well laid out design of the hardware.
  - keithpeter 13y ago
    Well, I won't be bidding, but I'd pay a sensible amount for a good print of that photo!
    - ctdonath 13y ago
      As votes aren't publicized, I'll second that. It's a very nice photo, providing a great deal of information in a clear attractive form. Straight high-res .PNG at minimum please? or an "order prints here" link as appropriate?
      - gregsadetsky 13y ago
        Here's a semi high-res of one of the schematics panels: http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/apple-1-schematic-3-10-76.jpg http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/... [edit] Found a more complete, higher resolution version: http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-scan.pdf http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-scan.pdf (you do need to click the download button, and enter a captcha. but it's worth it) [edit 2] As for the motherboard itself, photos of many Apple Is are available here: http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm
    - dblock 13y ago
      (dB. from Artsy here) I'll find out who owns copyright on that image. My guess is that it was taken by a photographer at Christie's.
abfabry 13y ago
David Sheff has a really great story about the night Steve Jobs met Andy Warhol: "Andy took Sean’s spot in front of the computer and Steve showed him how to maneuver and click the mouse. Warhol didn’t get it; he lifted and waved the mouse, as if it were a conductor’s baton. Jobs gently explained that the mouse worked when it was pushed along a surface. Warhol kept lifting it until Steve placed his hand on Warhol’s and guided it along the floor. Finally Warhol began drawing, staring at the “pencil” as it drew on the screen." "Warhol was mesmerized–people who knew him know the way he tuned out everything extraneous when he was entranced by whatever it was–gliding the mouse, eyes affixed to the monitor. Haring was bent over watching. Andy, his eyes wide, looked up, stared at Haring, and said, “Look! Keith! I drew a circle!”" http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-andy-warhol/ http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-andy-...
- phaus 13y ago
  >“Look! Keith! I drew a circle!” And this was pretty much the extent of Andy Warhol's artistic ability. It's a travesty that one of this man's photographs is one of the top ten most expensive pieces of art ever sold, when there's literally hundreds of thousands of artists who produce better work with less resources. Good artists work hard. People like Warhol are just con men.
  - dblock 13y ago
    I think you shouldn't look at Warhol as some kind of technically superior artist. I like this quote from Robert Rosenblum (an art historian): "Warhol’s art is itself like a March of Time newsreel, an abbreviated visual anthology of the most conspicuous headlines, personalities, mythic creatures, edibles, tragedies, artworks, even ecological problems of recent decades. If nothing were to remain of the years from 1962 to 1987 but a Warhol retrospective, future historians and archaeologists would have a fuller time capsule to work with than that offered by any other artist of the period." If you want to learn more, I'll shameless plug this post: http://artsy.net/post/matthew-10-reasons-why-andy-warhol-matters http://artsy.net/post/matthew-10-reasons-why-andy-warhol-mat...
  - jrs99 13y ago
austenallred 13y ago
I saw the address in Palo Alto and was curious as to where that is now. Looks like it's the Stanford Medical Center Nephrology Clinic http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg Also, note even the paper of the user guide and the rivets used to bind the paper. They show great care. Most people (myself included) would have just printed on normal paper and stapled them together.
- dowskitest 13y ago
  "Also, note even the paper of the user guide and the rivets used to bind the paper." It looks like they're just standard brass fasteners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener Nothing special. Elementary school kids use them every day.
- harywilke 13y ago
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener not rivets. just pretty generic fasteners.
- Stratoscope 13y ago
  Apple was never actually "in" that building at 770 Welch Road. It was their answering service and mail drop when they were still in the garage. Here's a better view of the building: https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll=37.437973,-122.175876&spn=0.002485,0.003401&sll=37.437765024837546,-122.17619510000003&sspn=0.0017582183973974524,0.002836423689035117&t=h&hnear=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+Santa+Clara,+California+94304&z=19 https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll... The answering service was on the first floor near the front door - right near the map pin in that view. I have a somewhat embarrassing story about Steve and me and that answering service: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the_first_people_steve_jobs_ever/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the...
  - gcb0 13y ago
    > So, if I'd joined Apple, I may well have insisted on not getting any stock. Didn't steve stole the stock and pay of all the first employees anyway?
danielweber 13y ago
Hey kids! Look at the symbols over the numbers on the top row of the keyboard in the picture. Now compare them to the symbols on the top row of your keyboard. Now compare them both to ASCII symbols 0x20-0x2a. I grew up on a keyboard like this one. Not on an actual Apple-I, though. :(
- WalterBright 13y ago
  Did the keyboard come with it originally? I find it odd that the cable wires soldered to the connector on the keyboard are not in the order the wires are on the cable, leading to a bit of a snarl.
  - csixty4 13y ago
    The Apple I was just a board and you could connect any ASCII keyboard to it. The Byte Shop probably had a standard one they sold with theirs, though.
sambeau 13y ago
Design Engineer - S. Wozniak Project Engineer - S.Jobs Interesting to see Woz as 'Design' and Jobs as 'Project'.
- msteinert 13y ago
  Wozniak designed (and built) the Apple I circuit. Jobs was not an engineer, he filled the marketing role.
  - sambeau 13y ago
    I believe that is an over-simplification and slightly revisionist take on early Apple history. Jobs was more technical than he is given credit for these days: Atari had employed him as a technician. However, next to Woz any of us would look like just a marketing guy. Nor would I sugest that anyone but Woz designed the Apple's circuitry.
mahrain 13y ago
Here's a cool story on the Macintosh, and a totally unrelated -- but still very cool picture accompanying it.
dmckeon 13y ago
Any guesses as to what the "3 × 9 in" dimension refers to? Is this a photo, a postcard, the size of one component, or what? I'm thinking that the wooden mounting board would be around 18 inches by 24 inches.
- dblock 13y ago
  (dB. from artsy.net here) These dimensions were wrong, now corrected to 15 1/2 x 9''. Here's the full item description. An Apple-1 motherboard, numbered 01-0025 on the reverse in black ink, Apple Computer 1 Palo Alto Ca. Copyright 1976 etched on obverse, signed 'Woz' in black ink on breadboard area, with four rows of components labeled A-D and columns 1-18, three large filter capacitors, heatsink on +5V regulator, all ICs socketed, MOS 6502 processor marked MOS MCS 6502 1576 in white ceramic package, cassette board connector, 8k DRAM memory, firmware in two 256 x 4 PROMs. 15.5in. (39.4cm.) x 9in. (22.9cm.)
boneheadmed 13y ago
I would pay for simply having a poster of this. Would love to inspire my kids with it.

68 points by sethbannon 13y ago

sethbannon 13y ago

Warning: zooming in and examining each component in detail is a huge time suck. Lot's of fun though.

orta 13y ago
(disclaimer: I work for Artsy where this is hosted ) Agreed, I loved reading the smaller copy on the schematics! I don't understand the electrics but I certainly appreciate the well laid out design of the hardware.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  Well, I won't be bidding, but I'd pay a sensible amount for a good print of that photo!
  - ctdonath 13y ago
    As votes aren't publicized, I'll second that. It's a very nice photo, providing a great deal of information in a clear attractive form. Straight high-res .PNG at minimum please? or an "order prints here" link as appropriate?
    - gregsadetsky 13y ago
      Here's a semi high-res of one of the schematics panels: http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/apple-1-schematic-3-10-76.jpg http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/... [edit] Found a more complete, higher resolution version: http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-scan.pdf http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-scan.pdf (you do need to click the download button, and enter a captcha. but it's worth it) [edit 2] As for the motherboard itself, photos of many Apple Is are available here: http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm
  - dblock 13y ago
    (dB. from Artsy here) I'll find out who owns copyright on that image. My guess is that it was taken by a photographer at Christie's.

abfabry 13y ago

David Sheff has a really great story about the night Steve Jobs met Andy Warhol: "Andy took Sean’s spot in front of the computer and Steve showed him how to maneuver and click the mouse. Warhol didn’t get it; he lifted and waved the mouse, as if it were a conductor’s baton. Jobs gently explained that the mouse worked when it was pushed along a surface. Warhol kept lifting it until Steve placed his hand on Warhol’s and guided it along the floor. Finally Warhol began drawing, staring at the “pencil” as it drew on the screen." "Warhol was mesmerized–people who knew him know the way he tuned out everything extraneous when he was entranced by whatever it was–gliding the mouse, eyes affixed to the monitor. Haring was bent over watching. Andy, his eyes wide, looked up, stared at Haring, and said, “Look! Keith! I drew a circle!”" http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-andy-warhol/ http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-andy-...

phaus 13y ago
>“Look! Keith! I drew a circle!” And this was pretty much the extent of Andy Warhol's artistic ability. It's a travesty that one of this man's photographs is one of the top ten most expensive pieces of art ever sold, when there's literally hundreds of thousands of artists who produce better work with less resources. Good artists work hard. People like Warhol are just con men.
- dblock 13y ago
  I think you shouldn't look at Warhol as some kind of technically superior artist. I like this quote from Robert Rosenblum (an art historian): "Warhol’s art is itself like a March of Time newsreel, an abbreviated visual anthology of the most conspicuous headlines, personalities, mythic creatures, edibles, tragedies, artworks, even ecological problems of recent decades. If nothing were to remain of the years from 1962 to 1987 but a Warhol retrospective, future historians and archaeologists would have a fuller time capsule to work with than that offered by any other artist of the period." If you want to learn more, I'll shameless plug this post: http://artsy.net/post/matthew-10-reasons-why-andy-warhol-matters http://artsy.net/post/matthew-10-reasons-why-andy-warhol-mat...
- jrs99 13y ago

austenallred 13y ago

I saw the address in Palo Alto and was curious as to where that is now. Looks like it's the Stanford Medical Center Nephrology Clinic http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg Also, note even the paper of the user guide and the rivets used to bind the paper. They show great care. Most people (myself included) would have just printed on normal paper and stapled them together.

dowskitest 13y ago
"Also, note even the paper of the user guide and the rivets used to bind the paper." It looks like they're just standard brass fasteners. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener Nothing special. Elementary school kids use them every day.
harywilke 13y ago
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brass_fastener not rivets. just pretty generic fasteners.
Stratoscope 13y ago
Apple was never actually "in" that building at 770 Welch Road. It was their answering service and mail drop when they were still in the garage. Here's a better view of the building: https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll=37.437973,-122.175876&spn=0.002485,0.003401&sll=37.437765024837546,-122.17619510000003&sspn=0.0017582183973974524,0.002836423689035117&t=h&hnear=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+Santa+Clara,+California+94304&z=19 https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll... The answering service was on the first floor near the front door - right near the map pin in that view. I have a somewhat embarrassing story about Steve and me and that answering service: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the_first_people_steve_jobs_ever/ http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the...
- gcb0 13y ago
  > So, if I'd joined Apple, I may well have insisted on not getting any stock. Didn't steve stole the stock and pay of all the first employees anyway?

danielweber 13y ago

Hey kids! Look at the symbols over the numbers on the top row of the keyboard in the picture. Now compare them to the symbols on the top row of your keyboard. Now compare them both to ASCII symbols 0x20-0x2a. I grew up on a keyboard like this one. Not on an actual Apple-I, though. :(

WalterBright 13y ago
Did the keyboard come with it originally? I find it odd that the cable wires soldered to the connector on the keyboard are not in the order the wires are on the cable, leading to a bit of a snarl.
- csixty4 13y ago
  The Apple I was just a board and you could connect any ASCII keyboard to it. The Byte Shop probably had a standard one they sold with theirs, though.

sambeau 13y ago

Design Engineer - S. Wozniak Project Engineer - S.Jobs Interesting to see Woz as 'Design' and Jobs as 'Project'.

msteinert 13y ago
Wozniak designed (and built) the Apple I circuit. Jobs was not an engineer, he filled the marketing role.
- sambeau 13y ago
  I believe that is an over-simplification and slightly revisionist take on early Apple history. Jobs was more technical than he is given credit for these days: Atari had employed him as a technician. However, next to Woz any of us would look like just a marketing guy. Nor would I sugest that anyone but Woz designed the Apple's circuitry.

mahrain 13y ago

Here's a cool story on the Macintosh, and a totally unrelated -- but still very cool picture accompanying it.

dmckeon 13y ago

Any guesses as to what the "3 × 9 in" dimension refers to? Is this a photo, a postcard, the size of one component, or what? I'm thinking that the wooden mounting board would be around 18 inches by 24 inches.

dblock 13y ago
(dB. from artsy.net here) These dimensions were wrong, now corrected to 15 1/2 x 9''. Here's the full item description. An Apple-1 motherboard, numbered 01-0025 on the reverse in black ink, Apple Computer 1 Palo Alto Ca. Copyright 1976 etched on obverse, signed 'Woz' in black ink on breadboard area, with four rows of components labeled A-D and columns 1-18, three large filter capacitors, heatsink on +5V regulator, all ICs socketed, MOS 6502 processor marked MOS MCS 6502 1576 in white ceramic package, cassette board connector, 8k DRAM memory, firmware in two 256 x 4 PROMs. 15.5in. (39.4cm.) x 9in. (22.9cm.)

boneheadmed 13y ago

I would pay for simply having a poster of this. Would love to inspire my kids with it.