“A functional Macintosh 128k prototype has been put up for sale on eBay, complete with rare ‘Twiggy’ 5.25in floppy drive, original keyboard, mouse and power lead,” Caleb Cox reports for Register Hardware.
“The only non-authentic thing here is that the seller, who calls himself ‘Woz,’ isn’t actually Apple co-founder, Steve Wozniak – a fact he’s happy to highlight – but an eBay user from Canada attempting to squeeze $100,000 or more from the pocket of an eager fanboy,” Cox reports. “The prototype, which was created in advance of the computer’s debut in January 1984, was acquired in a complete state and was not pieced together, ‘Woz’ claims.”
Cox reports, “Its most unique feature is the Twiggy drive, though, as few still exist today, let alone one implemented in an early Mac.”
More info and photos in the full article here.
Will it run Mountain Lion?
LMAO! thanks!!!
+10
Pure win.
Since no one has given you an answer, I will: No.
I’m pretty sure that if you click on the full article and look at the picture, the floppy disk is inserted backwards into the drive.
Maybe that explains the high error rate? 😉
The disk is going in correctly. It has another set of holes for the heads near the front.
I have quite a few boxes of these things. Not sure why I ever got them, as never had a Lisa (or 128k Mac) to go with them.
The original (128K) Mac was the first mass produced computer to use the (then) new Sony 3.5″ disk. As usual, the rest of the industry followed several years later.
The Twiggy drive was used by Apple only in the Lisa. What makes the offered computer of this article so interesting is that it is a prototype Mac with a Twiggy drive.
As Twiggy drives were problematic, it’s just as well the Mac was released with the 3.5″ drive.
@Twiggy
What to sell a couple of twiggy drives?
I’ll be willing to sell my fully-functioning MacPlus with its carrying case and a bunch of software for a paltry $1,000.
I’ve got one of those too. Mine still works – does yours?
Also have a 20MB drive for it that cost $400-$500, back in the day.
Woz, how much AppleCare is left on this thing?
Did he try selling it to RIM in Canada first to see if there’s any pickings left for the next generation BlackBerry to copy seeing that RIM is 20 years behind Apple in the development cycle.
No, but he’s trying to sell RIMM an early Newton.
It was too high tech for RIMM.
Not only is that not the real “Woz”, but Woz didn’t work on the Mac so there is no real creative connection. No Sale.
…. and Woz continues to want and to wait. Spare me the sentimental historical value BS. If I’m spending cash for a Mac it’s going to be the one with the biggest storage capacity, fastest processors, and glorious display that I can afford.
Is it snappy?
I don’t understand the hate from the original article’s author. How exactly is the seller trying to “squeeze” $100,000 from anyone?? If someone has the cash and wants to buy it, good for buyer and seller.
Consider what an Apple I has gone for recently.
I had an SE 2/20
It had the signatures in it. Woz was one of them.
So why did he sign it if he didn’t work on it?
I have a working 128K Mac upgraded to 512K that includes a 20MB external harddrive and an internal 400 k floppy drive. Still plays Arkanoid, Dark Castle, and Continuum.