Rare Macintosh Prototype Goes For Auction Estimated Price

Note something “wrong” in Macintosh above? Well look again: this little beauty is being auctioned right now on the website of the British agency Bonhams, and is estimated at between 94,000 and 140,000 (or R $ 650 thousand, in the average).

Why is the value so high, you are wondering? Well, take a look at floppy drive on the machine: here we have space for a 5 inch floppy disk known as Twiggy. As is well known, the final version of the Macintosh has altered this drive to accommodate a "common" 3-inch floppy disk that has become the industry standard until replaced by CDs and USB sticks.

The prototype being auctioned is only one of two currently in the world; all other models were actually destroyed or lost in time, Steve Jobs in person had most of them destroyed as Apple's legendary cofounder decided to replace the 5 ”drive with the 3” drive.

Anyone who knows details about Ma's story will surely remember that the “Twiggy” floppy disk drive was what equipped the Apple Lisa during the (short) life of the machine. The format, however, has never been popular with reliability and durability issues (which prompted Jobs's decision to abandon the format in the Macintosh project).

The crappy Macintosh owned by the CEO of Encore Systems since its construction in the early 1980s and has been used in the company for the development of MacWrite (the revolutionary word processor that, along with MacPaint, made the Mac a relative success). That is, besides the curiosity of the different drive, here we have a machine inlaid with history of its own.

Note that the package also includes the original Macintosh keyboard and mouse, as well as some program diskettes. The computer is in perfect condition, but slightly yellowish which may or may not be a bargain if you are interested.

Floppy disk auction

Did you think that was the only news of the day related to Apple, auction and old physical media? Because they found it wrong: RR Auction is already accepting bids for a autographed floppy disk by Steve Jobs in person with an estimated value of about $ 7,500 (approximately R $ 32 thousand).

Macintosh System Tools diskette autographed by Steve Jobs

The media in question provides a copy of version 6.0 of Macintosh System Tools, utility and software package for Mac OS Classic. Look at the description of the item and revel in the fact that never in history has another floppy disk deserved the honor of having so far-fetched words directed at it:

Macintosh System Tools version 6.0 floppy disk, signed in black permanent marker, steve jobs. In good condition, with small scratches on the paint. A highly desired format for Jobs's little-seen signature known as a “reluctant autograph”, he often turned down collector requests. As a part of Mac's only original software, and with Jobs's elegant signature in tiny, this is a piece of museum-quality computing history.

Who is going?

via Cult of Mac, 9to5Mac