The 196-page computer manual is signed and inscribed on the front of the table of contents: “Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980.”
It is also signed by Mike Markkula, Apple’s first investor and the company’s second CEO.
The manual was signed while Jobs and Markkula were in the UK promoting Apple, RR Auction said in a statement announcing the sale. The recipient was Julian Brewer, the son of a businessman who worked with Apple to distribute his products in the UK.
“I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me to find some guests,” Brewer said. “To my surprise it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. He had the manual with me and only then did I understand how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone write an inscription like this. He got along well with the father, so feel that the inscription was done with care. “
Launched in 1977, the Apple II was the company’s first successful product and is widely regarded as one of the first computers manufactured for the mass market. The first computer spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was written for the Apple II in 1979 and expanded the popularity of the computer in the business market.
“While the Apple I was primarily for amateurs, with fewer than 200 units manufactured, the Apple II really ‘changed the world’ by giving nearly 6 million homes and businesses the first taste of personal computing. biggest IPO of the time, ”RR Auction said.
Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, made the winning bid for the manual.
“When we think of the greatest and most innovative minds of the last two centuries, we certainly need to include Steve Jobs,” Irsay said in a statement to the auction house. “Jobs was a truly transformative figure who changed the way humans think, do business and interact on a daily basis.”
It sold for $ 479,939.