The Apple I, also known as the Apple-1, was an early personal computer. They were designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak.Wozniak's friend Steve Jobs had the idea of selling the computer. The Apple I was Apple's first product, demonstrated in April 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California.

It went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66, because Wozniak liked repeating digits and because they originally sold it to a local shop for $500 and added a one-third markup. About 200 units were produced. Unlike other hobbyist computers of its day, which were sold as kits, the Apple I was a fully assembled circuit board containing about 30 chips. However, to make a working computer, users still had to add a case, power supply, keyboard, and display. An optional board providing a cassette interface for storage was later released at a cost of $75.

The Apple I is sometimes credited as the first personal computer to be sold in fully assembled form; however, some argue that the honor rightfully belongs to other machines, such as the MOS Technology KIM-1, Datapoint 2200, or more commonly the Altair 8800 (which could be bought in kit or assembled form for extra cost). One major difference sets the Apple I apart — it was the first personal computer to use a keyboard.

Labels: apple, culture

¶ posted by Rocco Mandaglio, Staff Writer @ 4/01/2008 09:04:00 AM