Want one of Apple’s first computers? Indy man wants you to have it

A piece of techie history with Indy connections is up for grabs – for a hefty price.

One of the first Apple computers — a demo unit of the Apple-1 that has been in possession of an Indianapolis resident for more than 40 years — is on the auction block.

The fully-functional Apple-1 is leading an auction of Apple collectibles by Boston-based RR Auction.

West side resident Doug McIntosh — his name endearingly similar to Macintosh, Apple’s branding for its personal computers for years before being shortened to Mac — said he was pretty much given the machine in 1978, not long after the company introduced the world to its PCs.

McIntosh’s computer, in its orange case, was originally used as a demonstration system at the Data Domain computer store in Columbus, Indiana, in 1977. Now defunct, Bloomington-based Data Domain became one of Apple’s first four dealers in 1976 and is thought to be whether the term “personal computer” originated, according to RR Auction.

Similar machines have sold for upwards of more than $900,000 in recent years.

That helped convince McIntosh, 66, to part with the collector’s item.

“I’ve long considered it kind of a nest egg and that I would probably divest myself from it at some point,” McIntosh said. “I’ve had it long enough and I’ve enjoyed it as much as I can enjoy it.”

The machine leads the “Steve Jobs and the Apple Computer Revolution” auction RR Auction is conducting through March 16.

The Apple-1 was the first personal computer sold ready to use.

Steve Jobs and Steve “Woz” Wozniak originally conceived it as a bare circuit board to be sold as a kit and completed by electronics hobbyists, according to RR Auction.

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