California Recycling Center searching for woman who dropped off rare Apple I worth $200k - Polidicks

[QUOTE]MILPITAS -- It turns out that one person's junk is indeed someone else's treasure. A South Bay recycling firm is looking for a woman who, in early April, dropped off boxes of electronics that she had cleaned out from her house after her husband died. About two weeks later, the firm, Clean Bay Area, discovered inside one of the boxes a rare find: a vintage Apple I, one of only about 200 first-generation desktop computers put together by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ron Wayne in 1976. The recycling firm sold the Apple I this month for $200,000 to a private collection, Vice President Victor Gichun said. And now, because company policy is to split proceeds 50-50 with the donor, he's looking for the mystery woman who refused to get a receipt or leave her name. "We are looking for her to give her $100,000," Gichun said.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_28221648/100-000-check-awaits-mystery-apple-i-donor[/url] [t]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Apple_I_Computer.jpg[/t] [editline]30th May 2015[/editline] shit can a mod fix the 'searching' in the title

Damn. All because she probably simply didn't know its worth. She's lucky that they're willing to split it 50/50.

Stories like this pretty much make it so whenever I'm throwing out old stuff, I check it for value. Such as when I got rid of my N64 collection, there were some gems.

It continues to boggle my mind how people can just throw shit away like this. Like even if you know nothing about technology, who looks at something like this and goes "well it's obviously not worth taking to an appraiser to get it checked out before I chuck it." Makes you wonder how many pieces of history like this really do get destroyed because someone couldn't bother to get it checked out.

People do this with guns all the time too. A family member dies, a person who doesn't care for guns comes into possession of one, and suddenly that antique weapon is sold to a furnace for $50. At least the computer had a better fate.

[QUOTE=thelurker1234;47843282]Stories like this pretty much make it so whenever I'm throwing out old stuff, I check it for value. Such as when I got rid of my N64 collection, there were some gems.[/QUOTE] I gave my old games and consoles away to some kids in a developing country. When I went there they were still using it. Best to not just trash things.

Oh cool my city finally on the news. Anyway aren't a lot of people just going to show up and try to claim the reward.

[QUOTE=gooldude;47843295]Oh cool my city finally on the news. Anyway aren't a lot of people just going to show up and try to claim the reward.[/QUOTE] I would guess they have some security camera footage, or someone that remembers what the person looked like.

[QUOTE=1239the;47843287]It continues to boggle my mind how people can just throw shit away like this. Like even if you know nothing about technology, who looks at something like this and goes "well it's obviously not worth taking to an appraiser to get it checked out before I chuck it." Makes you wonder how many pieces of history like this really do get destroyed because someone couldn't bother to get it checked out.[/QUOTE] I've seen things happen that you can only equate to [i]genocide[/i], and we're not talking the usual "I"m going to turn X into a rad gaming PC case", or "we blew up generic 486 machine Y". [img]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-smithfrog.png[/img]

[QUOTE=pentium;47843334]I've seen things happen that you can only equate to [i]genocide[/i], and we're not talking the usual "I"m going to turn X into a rad gaming PC case", or "we blew up generic 486 machine Y". [img]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-smithfrog.png[/img][/QUOTE] Yes, because tossing old junk is equatable to systematic murder of thousands/millions.

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;47843377]Yes, because tossing old junk is equatable to systematic murder of thousands/millions.[/QUOTE] Depending on the hardware...

[QUOTE=InvaderNouga;47843377]Yes, because tossing old junk is equatable to systematic murder of thousands/millions.[/QUOTE] i mean this is mips we're talking about so you never know

[QUOTE=1239the;47843287]It continues to boggle my mind how people can just throw shit away like this. Like even if you know nothing about technology, who looks at something like this and goes "well it's obviously not worth taking to an appraiser to get it checked out before I chuck it." Makes you wonder how many pieces of history like this really do get destroyed because someone couldn't bother to get it checked out.[/QUOTE] what on earth would cause her to think that this thing would be worth a lot of money? to the vast majority of people that thing looks like a piece of junk - an early model of a computer I don't think it's fair to basically call them retarded for throwing it out - it's clear she has no knowledge of electronics/computers, so she couldn't have known. to her it was just (probably) something of her husband's that she thought was junk

If it weren't for the keys and outlet I'd have a hard time telling if it were from 1976 or 1776.

[QUOTE=1239the;47843287]It continues to boggle my mind how people can just throw shit away like this. Like even if you know nothing about technology, who looks at something like this and goes "well it's obviously not worth taking to an appraiser to get it checked out before I chuck it." Makes you wonder how many pieces of history like this really do get destroyed because someone couldn't bother to get it checked out.[/QUOTE] Reminds me of that guy on /k/ that ruined a WWII looted luger with sandpaper

Really cool. Wonder if it works? For 200k it better. [QUOTE=1239the;47843287]if you know nothing about technology, who looks at something like this and goes "well it's obviously not worth taking to an appraiser to get it checked out before I chuck it."[/QUOTE] that thing is quite literally made of wood scraps and put together with home depot screws, anyone who isn't into computers would dismiss it as an old school/home project or some other form of worthless junk (it's also [I]quite literally[/I] a home project, I think those particular ones are the ones Wozniak built by hand back when Apple operated out of a garage.)

[QUOTE=latin_geek;47844177]Really cool. Wonder if it works? For 200k it better.[/QUOTE] If it worked, it probably would've gone for way more.

[QUOTE=proch;47844095]Reminds me of that guy on /k/ that ruined a WWII looted luger with sandpaper[/QUOTE] or some sonic fan who riced the shit out of a k98k and painted it all matte blue and decaled it what's wrong with some people

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;47843289]People do this with guns all the time too. A family member dies, a person who doesn't care for guns comes into possession of one, and suddenly that antique weapon is sold to a furnace for $50. At least the computer had a better fate.[/QUOTE] If you don't care for guns, but want to get value out of it, is it possible to have the gun permanently deactivated but still retain antique value?

[QUOTE=Hamsteronfire;47844603]or some sonic fan who riced the shit out of a k98k and painted it all matte blue and decaled it what's wrong with some people[/QUOTE] You mean this? [t]http://i.imgur.com/UrMos.jpg[/t] Because someone bought it and restored it as much as they could. Can't find the images of that, though.

it was a fucking brony of course

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;47843289]People do this with guns all the time too. A family member dies, a person who doesn't care for guns comes into possession of one, and suddenly that antique weapon is sold to a furnace for $50. At least the computer had a better fate.[/QUOTE] Luckily I did the opposite, and now have an entire arsenal of high quality guitars/amps.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;47843289]People do this with guns all the time too. A family member dies, a person who doesn't care for guns comes into possession of one, and suddenly that antique weapon is sold to a furnace for $50. At least the computer had a better fate.[/QUOTE] Ugh that SVD.... :v:

I wonder what Wozniak thinks when these things turn up. These little guys were his babies and the root of his company and now they're arguably the rarest collectible in computing

[QUOTE=Durrsly;47845019]You mean this? [t]http://i.imgur.com/UrMos.jpg[/t] Because someone bought it and restored it as much as they could. Can't find the images of that, though.[/QUOTE] This really isn't comparable, it's paint and a sticker, it's not even on the metal parts, just the stock, the /k/ommando who bought it had it fully restored within a day. That's nowhere near sanding through a Luger's barrel, hacksawing an SVD, or de-milling a transferable StG-44. Not to mention how much more common 98 Mausers are compared to the likes of those.

[QUOTE=Durrsly;47845019]You mean this? [t]http://i.imgur.com/UrMos.jpg[/t] Because someone bought it and restored it as much as they could. Can't find the images of that, though.[/QUOTE] They're by no means rare though. They are one of the most produced weapons in the world.

well yeah but the thought of it makes me shudder lol "stop liking what i don't like"

[QUOTE=joost1120;47845559]They're by no means rare though. They are one of the most produced weapons in the world.[/QUOTE] Kar98ks? No. Nuggets? Very yes.

[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;47843289]People do this with guns all the time too. A family member dies, a person who doesn't care for guns comes into possession of one, and suddenly that antique weapon is sold to a furnace for $50. At least the computer had a better fate.[/QUOTE] This happened to me, my mum was approached by a woman at church who knew I was doing gamekeeping and wondered if I wanted a free air rifle. Naturally I wanted to look at it and it turned out she was just giving away her deceased husbands air rifle that was worth about £250 because of its rarity, condition and age. The old lady refused anything I offered and insisted I just have it.

[QUOTE=pentium;47843334]I've seen things happen that you can only equate to [i]genocide[/i], and we're not talking the usual "I"m going to turn X into a rad gaming PC case", or "we blew up generic 486 machine Y". [img]http://i.somethingawful.com/forumsystem/emoticons/emot-smithfrog.png[/img][/QUOTE] What?