The Homebrew Computer Club first met 36 years ago today in a garage in the Silicon Valley. Computers at the time were gigantic and cost about a million dollars each. Some young programmers dreamed of building small computers to use at home, just for fun.
Steve Wozniak attended the first meeting in this garage, and was so inspired that he immediately set to work on what would become the Apple I computer. To finance the operation, Wozniak sold his HP Calculator for $500 (!) and Steve Jobs sold his VW bus. Jobs obtained an order from a local computer store and the Apple I went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66 because Wozniak "liked repeating digits" and because of a one-third markup on the $500 wholesale price.
About 60 Apple I computers still exist. In October 2014, a working Apple 1 was sold at auction for $905,000 to the Henry Ford Museum. The sale included the keyboard, monitor, cassette decks, and a manual.
The valuation of Apple is expected to push past $1 trillion within the next 12 months.
The total wealth of the world in "product per capita" is about 70 trillion dollars.
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