Apple I
The Apple I computer is available for sale, for the price of $666.66, a price set as a practical joke by Apple Computer cofounder Steve Wozniak, who is also the designer of the system’s architecture. The computer is sold as a circuit board, requiring end users to construct their own enclosure to protect it (the elaborate wood casing shown here was neither typical nor standard-issue). Wozniak’s ambitions for an expandable system are built into the Apple I, including add-on memory cards that can expand its native 4K of memory to as much as 48K, with an interface for an optional cassette data storage system. Nearly 200 units are built and sold, but Apple will recall them, offering users an opportunity to upgrade to the Apple II upon that system’s introduction the following year.