The original Apple Computer, subsequently known as Apple I or Apple-1, was designed and hand-assembled by Steve Wozniak. The idea of commercializing the computer, instead, came from his friend and future partner Steve Jobs. This model represents the first product in Apple's history and marks the beginning of one of the most important technological revolutions of the twentieth century.
To finance the project, Jobs sold his only means of transportation, a Volkswagen Microbus, while Wozniak sold his HP-65 programmable calculator for 500 dollars. The computer was presented in July 1976 during a meeting of the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California, one of the main gathering points for the emerging computing community of Silicon Valley.
The Apple I was sold at the price of 666.66 dollars, a figure chosen by Wozniak for his preference for repeated numerical sequences and derived from a one-third markup on the wholesale price of 500 dollars. Approximately 200 units were produced, of which all but 25 were sold within nine to ten months.
Unlike most hobbyist computers of the era, generally sold as assembly kits, the Apple I was supplied as a fully assembled circuit board, containing over sixty integrated circuits. To obtain a functioning system it was still necessary to add a case, power supply, power switch, an ASCII keyboard, and a composite video monitor. Subsequently, an optional card for interfacing with cassette recorders, used as storage media, was also made available.
One of the most innovative features of the Apple I was the integrated video terminal. It was sufficient to connect a keyboard and a common household television to start using it. Competing systems, such as the Altair 8800, instead required programming via front panel switches and reading information through arrays of indicator lights, making additional hardware expansions necessary to connect a terminal or a teletype. This solution made the Apple I an extraordinarily advanced machine for its time.
In April 1977 the price was reduced to 475 dollars. Despite the launch of the Apple II in the same year, the model continued to be sold until August 1977, and was then officially discontinued in September of that year.
Since Steve Wozniak was the only person able to respond to most of the technical support requests related to the system, Apple launched a discount and trade-in program dedicated to Apple I owners, encouraging them to replace their computer with the new Apple II and to return the previous models.
Today the Apple I is considered one of the most important objects in the history of computing. The surviving examples are extremely rare and represent authentic testimonies of the origins of the personal computer revolution, sought after by museums, institutions, and collectors around the world.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_I