First Apple computer, 200 Apple-1 to be auctioned online starting on Thursday

In 1976, Apple Inc made and sold the first ever Apple computer. Fewer than half of the 200 Apple-1 computers, ever made, have survived and one of them could be yours as it goes for an online sale starting on Thursday.

A rare Apple-1 computer, the first personal computer ever made, will be sold by global auction house Christie's during an online sale "On the Shoulders of Giants: Making the Modern World".

It is estimated to be sold between $4,00,000-$650,000 (Rs 2.81 to Rs 4.56 crore).

Apple co-founders Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak created the computer, when they were working out of Jobs's garage and had the idea to produce the first personal computer sold with a fully assembled motherboard.

The Apple-1 systems were still sold without casing, power supply, keyboard or monitor, but offering a pre-assembled motherboard was something that put Apple far ahead of its competitors.

"In all, about 200 Apple-1 computers were made and advertised at $666.66, a price which dropped to $475 in 1977. By the end of that year the Apple-II (first introduced on 10 June 1977) had taken over, and the Apple-1 was no longer offered for sale," Christie's said.

After Jobs and Wozniak officially discontinued the Apple-1 in October 1977, they offered discounts and trade-ins to encourage all Apple-1 owners to return their machines. These were destroyed and fewer than half of the Apple-1 computers survived.

The sale also offers letters, manuscripts, printed editions. It traces a path from Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin to some of the great 20th century theoretical physicists, including Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman and Stephen Hawking.

Bidding is open from May 16-24 on www.christies.com.