An Apple II manual signed by Steve Jobs just sold for almost $ 800,000

(CNN) – If you thought Apple computers were expensive, you haven’t seen what their manuals cost.

Boston-based RR Auction sold an Apple II manual signed by the late company co-founder Steve Jobs for a whopping $ 787,484.

The 196-page team manual is signed and inscribed in front of the index: “Julian, your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven jobs, 1980.”

It is also signed by Mike Markkula, one of Apple’s earliest investors and the company’s second CEO.

The manual was signed while Jobs and Markkula were in the UK promoting Apple, RR Auction said in a statement announcing the sale. The recipient was Julian Brewer, the son of an entrepreneur who worked with Apple to distribute its products in the UK.

“I was sitting in my room writing games on my Apple II when Dad called to meet some guests,” Brewer said. “To my amazement it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I carried the manual with me and only later did I realize how rare it was for Jobs to sign something, let alone write an inscription like this. He got along well with Dad, so I think the inscription it was done with care. “

The Apple II computer

Released in 1977, the Apple II was the company’s first successful product and is widely regarded as one of the first computers made for the mass market.

The first computer spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was written for the Apple II in 1979 and expanded the popularity of the computer into the business market.

“While the Apple I was primarily for enthusiasts, with fewer than 200 units made, the Apple II really ‘changed the world’ by giving some 6 million homes and businesses their first taste of personal computing. Apple II contributed to the success of Apple’s IPO, the largest technology public offering of the time, “states RR Auction.

Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, made the winning bid for the manual.

“When we think of the greatest and most innovative minds of the last two centuries, Steve Jobs must certainly be included among them,” Irsay said in a statement provided to the auction house. “Jobs was a truly transformative figure who changed the way human beings think, do business and interact on a daily basis.”

RR Auction also sold other articles related to Jobs and Apple, including a letter signed by Jobs in which he ironizes: “I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs.” It sold for $ 479,939.