The two parties had another disagreement on cleaning up the garage, so Hans asked the lawyer to write that they were responsible for throwing away the trash in the garage. As long as the trash did not damage the walls, Abel could not pursue them.
After the contract was signed and the rent was paid, they could move in.
As soon as the owner left, Hans immediately asked, "Hey, what's in the garage?"
Li Du opened the garage door, went in, and opened a broken wooden box. "This is it. I don't know if it was left by the previous tenant or if Abel forgot to keep it here."
When the wooden box was opened, there was a set of simple and shabby little machines. There was an outdated big-ass monitor, an old-fashioned keyboard, a motherboard, chips, and other things.
Among them, the keyboard inside was very unique. There was no protective cover on the edge, as if some plastic keys were inlaid on a piece of plastic board. It looked very primitive.
Obviously, this was an ancient computer. Just like the big-ass monitor, it was a computer that had been eliminated by time.
It was worth noting that the accessories of this ancient computer had a very famous logo in modern times: an apple with a bite taken out!
Hans' eyes lit up when he saw it. "Apple-1?! The first generation of Apple? Steve Jobs and Steve Gary Wozniak's Apple-1?! "
On December 8, 1975, Paul Terrell opened the first computer retail store in the United States and the world in Mountain View, California.
In 1976, two young men visited this computer retail store with a computer they had tinkered with. They wanted to launch a product they had carefully designed, with the goal of making some money.
At the time, no one could have imagined that the wheel of history would accelerate at this moment, and that a legendary story in the history of technology would unfold here.
The two young men were Steve Jobs and Steve Gary Wozniak. They called their machine the Apple-1, the ancestor of the Apple series. This was what they saw.
Hans knew the value of the Apple-1. He carefully picked up the motherboard, chips, and monitor and looked at it. He said happily, "Great, we found a treasure."
Sophie looked puzzled and asked, "Are these parts?"
Hans turned around and said, "Yes, the Apple-1 is a DIY kit. After the customer buys it, they have to solder the corresponding chips to the motherboard, and then install the power supply, motherboard, and monitor."
Sophie exclaimed, "Wow, that's a big project. If you sell it to me, I don't know how to assemble it. It'll be useless in my hands."
Li Du said thoughtfully, "Maybe the person who bought this computer had the same idea as you. They didn't know how to assemble it and abandoned it."
Watching Hans and Lu Guan fiddle with the computer parts, Sophie asked curiously, "Can it still be used? Apple-1 should have been around for many years. If it hasn't been used for so long, maybe it can't be used anymore? "
"Whether it can be used or not, this thing is very valuable. At least it's enough to pay our rent. If it can be used, that would be even better, "Hans said excitedly.
The Apple-1 was very valuable. It was the only limited edition of Apple's mainstream products.
When Jobs pitched it to Terrell, Terrell expressed interest, but told Jobs that he wanted a fully assembled computer.
So, as Terrell wished, Jobs supplied him with 50 fully assembled Apple-1S.
But because the computer market was still small at the time, Jobs had to market it themselves. So they had the Apple-1, which they sold to the enthusiasts of the time.
The difference between the two was that Jobs and Terrell sold the parts themselves. They also sold the wooden case, the keyboard, and the power supply. The former, in order to make more money, only sold the main unit and the monitor. The rest had to be assembled by the customers themselves.
The Apple-1 in Li Du's hands was the Apple-1 that Jobs and Terrell made and sold. It could be seen from the keyboard that came without a case.
How many Apple-1S did they sell at the time? A total of 200 were produced, and 25 were left unsold. The total number of assembled Apple-1 that appeared on the market was 175!
This number was quite good for the Apple-1, which had not been on the market for long. It strengthened Jobs and Terrell's determination to continue.
However, for the current market, this number was too small, which made the Apple-1 seem too valuable.
After Li Du discovered the Apple-1, he searched it on the Internet. According to the information on the Internet, Apple had counted the number of registered Apple-1S, and there were only 66 in the world.
This was because when Apple was just starting out, the only person who could provide technical support for the Apple-1 was Wozniak. At that time, there were few machines, and Wozniak could handle it.
But when the Apple II was released in 1977, the number of Apple users soared. In order to reduce the pressure on Wozniak, Apple set up a dedicated technical support team.
In order to shift the direction of technical support, Apple strongly encouraged users to upgrade their devices. Many Apple-1 devices were also destroyed as users upgraded, leading to a further decrease in the number of existing machines.
Hans and Lu Guan took out the parts and cleaned them. They were covered with a thick layer of dust. Fortunately, the weather in Phoenix was hot and dry, so the machine was not corroded by moisture. This was the most important thing.
While cleaning, Lu Guan saw a welding point on the motherboard and said, "It's not that it's not used. Someone used it, and then it was disassembled."
Li Du asked, "Is there any loss in its value?"
"As long as it can be used, who cares who used it?" Hans replied.
After cleaning it up, the two of them used electric welding and reassembled the computer.
In Li Du's opinion, this was a very complicated process, but for Hans and Lu Guan, it was too easy. They found a tutorial on the Internet, followed the tutorial, and easily assembled the computer like building blocks.
After plugging in the charger, Hans rubbed his hands and said expectantly, "Come on, let us … d * mn it!"
Lu Guan pressed the switch. He had wanted to experience this experience. The Apple-1 was one of the most desired gifts for people of his age.
When the switch was turned on, a green light at the bottom of the small screen suddenly lit up. Soon, characters began to jump on the screen!
Seeing this, Hans and Lu Guan excitedly high-fived and shouted, "Yeah, hooray! It can be used! This is a working Apple-1! "
The Apple-1 started to run, but the speed was very slow. Li Du asked, "Why is it not turned on for so long?"
Hans waved his hand and said, "Be patient. This is BASIC. It's complicated and complicated. Give it some time."
As the number of characters on the screen increased, finally, the classic Apple-1 interface appeared in front of them.
Hans clenched his fist and shouted, "YES! At least 600,000 dollars, we got it! "
600,000 dollars was the current market price of a working Apple-1. When it was first created, it was sold for 666.66 dollars. Now, its value had increased by a thousand times!
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