Saturday, November 29, 2008

eBay: Rare - Original Apple Lisa (w/Twiggy Drives)

Here is a very rare computer that I would buy if I had a spare $11,000. Its an original Apple Lisa (with Twiggy drives). Definitely a prize for any collection, and as the description states there are only 50 still around.

Normally if someone was asking $11,000 for a computer, I would say its way over priced. With the exception for a very few, and this is the exception. What makes it valuable and rare is that it has the 5.25" drives (known as Twiggy).
This system is an excellent example of Apple Computer's Second Rarest Computer, next to the original Apple-1 (1976). Less than 50 are known to exist in the world today. The Lisa was a landmark in computing history, being the first personal computer available with a mouse & GUI (Graphical User Interface). The release of this machine and the Lisa Office System to the public pre-dates Microsoft Windows 1.0 by almost 3 years!

The Apple Lisa was the programming platform for the Macintosh.
Apple offered Basic Plus, Pascal, and Cobol as programming environments for the lisa.
Mac OS 1.0 and most of the early Mac 128k programs were written with a Lisa.
The Lisa has 1mb RAM and a 5MB Hard Drive vs. 128k of RAM in the Macintosh.
Both machines use a Motorola 68000 CPU.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a buy-it-now listing, meaning there are no bidders or bidding process. Don't miss your chance to own a Lisa 1!

This Lisa turns on and passes all hardware tests. She boots up to Office System 1.2 (installed on the X/ProFile). A Lisa screen is hard to take a picture of, please be assured the screen is bright and crisp with no significant burn-in. I do not have any Twiggy floppy disks to test the Twiggy drives with, but they appear to be in very good shape.

As you can see by the photos, All plastic panels are clean. They have matching tone, and do not have any significant yellowing. No cracks or significant scratches present. The ProFile drive has some scratches on the top case, but is clean. This machine is in beautiful restored condition and appears to have seen little use during its lifetime.

A LISA 1 IS EXTREMELY RARE BECAUSE:
*It did not ship until July 1983, and was discontinued in January 1984 (6 months)
*Its original cost in 1983 was $10,000 US (approx. $21,000 US in 2008 dollars) making it a hard sell to businesses
*Apple offered all Lisa 1 owners a FREE upgrade to a Lisa 2 in 1984. Almost everybody went for this upgrade
*Apple took back all Lisa 1 specific parts back from authorized service centers and had them destroyed/disposed of

INCLUDED IN THIS AUCTION:
*Apple Lisa 1 Computer (with TWIGGY floppy drives)
*Apple Lisa Keyboard with original pull-out cards (cleaned,tested, working)
*Apple Lisa Mouse
*5 MB Apple Profile Hard Drive - upgraded to a new X/ProFile with Compact Flash memory card
*Power & data cables
*Original silk Anti-Glare Screen
*Complete Office System 1.2 installed on external X/ProFile Drive.
*Programs installed: LisaWrite, LisaDraw, LisaGraph, LisaList, LisaCalc, LisaProject, and LisaTerminal

OTHER RARE POINTS:
*The Twiggy drives included with this machine are very early examples, dated January 21st 1983.
*Lisa Office System 1.2 (included) is more rare than 1.0, as it only came with LisaTerminal (a required upgrade to operate LisaTerminal).
*CPU board ROM's are a rare "F" revision.

ABOUT THE X/ProFile:
The new X/ProFile and Voltage Regulator boards have been produced in a joint effort by Sigma Seven Systems and Vintage Micros, and are still available today. It will not die on you like the almost 30 year old ProFile drives, causing you to lose all of your precious data. You can simply back-up or duplicate the CF (Compact Flash) memory card!

Due to age and extreme rarity, this computer is sold "as-is" with no warranty or returns. I guarantee that this computer will be working as described when shipped. I am willing to demonstrate the Lisa 1 working, if picked up in person by the winning bidder. For shipping the Lisa, everything will be wrapped with extreme care so that it arrives safely. I do not charge for Packing materials or handling! Actual shipping cost only (please inquire).

eBay: Atari Stacy Vintage Portible Computer -

Here is a eBay auction for an Atari Stacy laptop computer that was up for sale. These are pretty rare and they are not worth much. I consider it an interesting artifact for those who like to collect these types of computers.

Tech of Yesteryear: Where Old Computers Find Their Final Resting Place

CIO magazine reports: "Max Burnet has turned his home in the leafy suburbs of Sydney into arguably Australia’s largest private computer museum. Since retiring as director of Digital Equipment Corporation a decade ago, Burnet has converted his interest in the computing industry into an invaluable snapshot of computer history. Every available space from his basement to the top floor of his two-storey home is covered with relics from the past. His collection is vast, from a 1920s Julius Totalisator, the first UNIX PDP-7, a classic DEC PDP-8, the original IBM PC, Apple’s Lisa, MITS Altair 8800, numerous punch cards and over 6000 computer reference books. And more. He happily opened his doors for CIO to take a look."

Max Burnet has a pretty amazing collection of vintage computer artifacts you may have never seen before. There are lots DEC, IBM personal computer and mainframe parts in his collection, plus several miscellaneous items you may have never seen before.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Decade of Internet Superstars: Where Are They Now?

MSN Tech & Gadgets reports: "Whatever happened to the Evolution of Dance guy or that kid who loved Britney Spears so much he cried for her under his sheet? We'll fill you in on what happened to them and other Web celebrities when their 15 minutes of fame ended."

I thought this was an interesting article.