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If you'd bought $10,000 of AAPL stock when this article was published (June 1997), it would be worth about $523,000 today, excluding dividends.

grecy 11y ago
I spent $4,500 on a G3 + 17" monitor in '98... it was an amazing machine :)
- joezydeco 11y ago
  I spent $3,899 on a Macintosh SE in 1987. ($8,000 in today's dollars). It was a lot slower.
  - pcurve 11y ago
    $3,400 on IIsi in 1991... one of the first 'affordable' color Macs. That was an amazing machine and I still remember the magic.
    - alrs 11y ago
      $2500 on an Apple //e in 1983. Monochrome screen, 1 floppy drive. No printer, no modem, no 80 column card.
      - bluedino 11y ago
        $2699 on a 1GHz G4 Powerbook in 2003. Didn't even have a DVD recordable, had to shell out another $300 for a firewire one and another $300 for 256MB more memory.
esusatyo 11y ago
If I told you to buy $10,000 of Blackberry stock today, would you do it? Buying AAPL in 1997 is as crazy as buying Blackberry today. The difference is Steve Jobs, but some people thought he was nuts too back in 1997.
- BillFranklin 11y ago
  Didn't Steve jobs sell 1.5 million shares in 1997? It caused a 12 year low in the company's stock price.. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Steve-Jobs-Confirms-Apple-Stock-Sale-2812791.php http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Steve-Jobs-Confirms-A...
  - adventured 11y ago
    Jobs made several poor decisions around Apple's stock, including after he came back. A few choices cost him billions of dollars (which would now be tens of billions for his wife). Fortunately for him, money wasn't something that he obsessed over.
    - microtherion 11y ago
      You're talking about a guy who got in trouble for having his subordinates make up a fictitious board meeting to get a better strike price for his options. http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-obituary-the-backdated-options-scandal/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/10/06/steve-job...
- gutnor 11y ago
  Also interestingly, how much money you need to have to be able to invest 10K into a single risky investment. Realistically you would either have to be irresponsible or be quite comfortable already. 500K today is a very nice sum, but it is only life changing if you are in the category that would not have had the 10K to invest in the first place.
- protomyth 11y ago
  Oddly, if you had bought $10,000 of Blackberry stock when the article came out and dumped it a year after the iPhone, you would have done quite well.
Rainymood 11y ago
Hindsight is 20/20. At that point in time buying Apple stok was akin to throwing your money away in the forseeable future. I just really wish I bought 10 bitcoins when they were 40 a pop .. Damn you, captain Hindsight!
- PhasmaFelis 11y ago
  Hah, "only" $40 a pop. Remember the first ever Bitcoin purchase? 10,000 BTC for a $25 pizza?
arikrak 11y ago
Didn't it multiply by more like 210x since then? So your 10k should be worth $2,100,000. https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL

grecy 11y ago

I spent $4,500 on a G3 + 17" monitor in '98... it was an amazing machine :)

joezydeco 11y ago
I spent $3,899 on a Macintosh SE in 1987. ($8,000 in today's dollars). It was a lot slower.
- pcurve 11y ago
  $3,400 on IIsi in 1991... one of the first 'affordable' color Macs. That was an amazing machine and I still remember the magic.
  - alrs 11y ago
    $2500 on an Apple //e in 1983. Monochrome screen, 1 floppy drive. No printer, no modem, no 80 column card.
    - bluedino 11y ago
      $2699 on a 1GHz G4 Powerbook in 2003. Didn't even have a DVD recordable, had to shell out another $300 for a firewire one and another $300 for 256MB more memory.

esusatyo 11y ago

If I told you to buy $10,000 of Blackberry stock today, would you do it? Buying AAPL in 1997 is as crazy as buying Blackberry today. The difference is Steve Jobs, but some people thought he was nuts too back in 1997.

BillFranklin 11y ago
Didn't Steve jobs sell 1.5 million shares in 1997? It caused a 12 year low in the company's stock price.. http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Steve-Jobs-Confirms-Apple-Stock-Sale-2812791.php http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Steve-Jobs-Confirms-A...
- adventured 11y ago
  Jobs made several poor decisions around Apple's stock, including after he came back. A few choices cost him billions of dollars (which would now be tens of billions for his wife). Fortunately for him, money wasn't something that he obsessed over.
  - microtherion 11y ago
    You're talking about a guy who got in trouble for having his subordinates make up a fictitious board meeting to get a better strike price for his options. http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/10/06/steve-jobs-obituary-the-backdated-options-scandal/ http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/10/06/steve-job...
gutnor 11y ago
Also interestingly, how much money you need to have to be able to invest 10K into a single risky investment. Realistically you would either have to be irresponsible or be quite comfortable already. 500K today is a very nice sum, but it is only life changing if you are in the category that would not have had the 10K to invest in the first place.
protomyth 11y ago
Oddly, if you had bought $10,000 of Blackberry stock when the article came out and dumped it a year after the iPhone, you would have done quite well.

Rainymood 11y ago

Hindsight is 20/20. At that point in time buying Apple stok was akin to throwing your money away in the forseeable future. I just really wish I bought 10 bitcoins when they were 40 a pop .. Damn you, captain Hindsight!

PhasmaFelis 11y ago
Hah, "only" $40 a pop. Remember the first ever Bitcoin purchase? 10,000 BTC for a $25 pizza?

arikrak 11y ago

Didn't it multiply by more like 210x since then? So your 10k should be worth $2,100,000. https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL https://www.google.com/finance?q=NASDAQ:AAPL