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'Prophetic' Steve Jobs autograph telling kid to 'go change the world!' among Apple memorabilia at auction
The kid went on to work for IBM. Awks
Wealthy people continue to assign inordinate value to items associated with the rich and/or famous so here's yet another auction of relics touched by our lord and saviour Steve Jobs (peace be upon him).
Among the paraphernalia set to be flogged by Boston-based RR Auction is a signed Apple II manual addressed to the son of Michael Brewer, an entrepreneur who won exclusive Apple distribution rights in the UK in 1979.
Opposite the table of contents the Apple co-founder wrote:
Julian, Your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! Steven Jobs, 1980
Apple's second CEO and angel investor Mike Markkula also signed the document.
Bobby Livingston, executive VP at RR Auction, said in a statement: "Steve Jobs inscription powerfully conveys his grand ambition and vision for the future of Apple and personal computing as a whole," with the auction house adding: "Jobs' inscription was prophetic, with Generation X-ers such as Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Jeff Bezos, and Elon Musk truly 'changing the world' with technology after being the first to 'grow up with computers.'"
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Sadly, we've never heard of Julian Brewer, but we're told he "wrote game reviews for Apple User magazine before going on to read Computing Science at Imperial College London and then to work for IBM. After completing an MBA at Wharton, Julian set up several successful small businesses, including a software venture whose games were distributed with JVC video cameras." All of which could never have happened without receiving Jobs' blessing. Amen.
He recalled: "I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me down to meet some guests. To my amazement, it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and only later understood how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone to write an inscription like this. He got on well with Dad, so I feel the inscription was made with care."
However, the young buck's defection to IBM down the line would have probably rankled Jobs as among the Apple-related lots set to be sold is his leather bomber jacker, which he wore in this photo.
There's also a fully functional Apple-1 up for auction along with an Altair 8800, Apple II, and Apple Lisa from the collection of personal computing pioneer Roger Wagner. The first is described as "extremely rare" and regularly collects six figures at similar events.
Minimum bids and estimated prices can be explored here. The "Apple and Steve Jobs" auction starts on 12 August and will run until the 19th.
Well-heeled Apple fanbois are sure to watch the sale with interest, and while we could debate the virtues of throwing heaps of money at obsolete hardware and the scribbles of not particularly nice people, at least there isn't a fucking NFT in sight. ®