
An Apple-1 Personal Computer - sethbannon
http://artsy.net/artwork/an-apple-1-personal-computer
======
abfabry
David Sheff has a really great story about the night Steve Jobs met Andy
Warhol:

"Andy took Sean’s spot in front of the computer and Steve showed him how to
maneuver and click the mouse. Warhol didn’t get it; he lifted and waved the
mouse, as if it were a conductor’s baton. Jobs gently explained that the mouse
worked when it was pushed along a surface. Warhol kept lifting it until Steve
placed his hand on Warhol’s and guided it along the floor. Finally Warhol
began drawing, staring at the “pencil” as it drew on the screen."

"Warhol was mesmerized–people who knew him know the way he tuned out
everything extraneous when he was entranced by whatever it was–gliding the
mouse, eyes affixed to the monitor. Haring was bent over watching. Andy, his
eyes wide, looked up, stared at Haring, and said, “Look! Keith! I drew a
circle!”"

[http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-
andy-...](http://davidsheff.com/article/the-night-steve-jobs-met-andy-warhol/)

~~~
phaus
>“Look! Keith! I drew a circle!”

And this was pretty much the extent of Andy Warhol's artistic ability.

It's a travesty that one of this man's photographs is one of the top ten most
expensive pieces of art ever sold, when there's literally hundreds of
thousands of artists who produce better work with less resources.

Good artists work hard. People like Warhol are just con men.

~~~
sambeau
This is a ridiculous, ill-educated statement that shows a lack of
understanding of history, art and the facts of Andy Warhol's technical drawing
ability.

1\. Art and it's ability to effect people's emotion and intellect has never
been (and never will be about) the technical ability of the artists alone. Art
is as much about ideas and emotion as it is about craft. Especially since the
advent of photography.

2\. If you ever stand next one of Andy Warhol's pieces you will appreciate the
skill he used. For one, they are often huge: his Chairman Mao in the Met takes
up a whole wall. If you only ever see a reproduction of an Andy Warhol you
will never appreciate this. Also, although he was trying to say something
interesting about the mass-production of art you can see that even his prints
were hand-produced and often have manual brushwork on them.

3\. If you look at his early work you will see that he was a very skilled
draughtsman, illustrator and pen & ink-smith. He hand-drew illustration for
magazine, adverts & products so was being paid and appreciated for his skill
in the tough world of graphic design before he became a renowned artist.

4\. It is hard to imagine what the world was like before somebody invented
something that became so prevalent that it is now seen as obvious. Every young
artists with access to a screen printing machine has a go at making an Andy
Warhol-esque print, most courses in screen printing will include a lesson
where people make pop-art, repetitions and colourful squares. It seems obvious
now. But when Andy Warhol first did it it was a revolution and a revelation.
That is why people liked them so much - they were new, pretty, thought-
provoking and very clever.

Go to the Met. Look at the canvases. You might be surprised.

~~~
phaus
I've taken quite enough art and art history classes. At one time, I was
planning on attending art school. I had a modest amount of talent, but not
nearly enough money.

I've also been to art museums both in the United States and in Europe. Modern
art is, for the most part, a sham.

When speaking about art, it's always going to be a matter of opinion. I don't
share yours, and you don't share mine. That doesn't make me ignorant or ill-
educated.

In my opinion, it's a goddamn shame that people like John Singer-Sargent are
relatively unknown while idiots are spending hundreds of millions of dollars
on poor-quality photographs because the artist happened to be a gifted
bullshitter.

Like I said, real artists work hard, Andy Warhol was known for spending the
majority of his life socializing and doing narcotics.

Also, his drawings weren't terrible, but I'd rate his skill about the same
level as a talented 14-year old.

~~~
rdouble
Andy Warhol never did narcotics. There are a few stories describing situations
where he may have done coke, which he denied. The only drug he was known to
have taken regularly was a precursor to adderal. He was a very prolific
commercial artist and had produced thousands of illustrations, posters and ads
before he started employing others to do his gallery work.

~~~
phaus
Being prolific doesn't make one talented, this article has quite a few of his
illustrations, and they simply aren't very good. His work doesn't show unique
signs of genius, they just look like the same types of drawings produced by
people who are still learning to draw.

Anyone on the planet with a hand can learn to draw at a professional level. It
just takes time and thousands of hours of practice. Andy Warhol didn't put in
the hours, and because of that his drawings aren't very good. If you can point
to a drawing or painting he did that doesn't look like it came from a middle-
school art show, I'd love to see it.

[http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/03/29/andy-warhol-
co...](http://99designs.com/designer-blog/2012/03/29/andy-warhol-commercial-
illustrator/)

~~~
rdouble
I was responding to your claim that he spent most of his time doing narcotics
and socializing. He did not do narcotics and spent most of his time doing art.

~~~
phaus
Perhaps he didn't do cocaine, but friends of his said he would deny it even as
he was in the middle of doing it. So the only people who will ever know for
sure are Andy and his friends.

He was also have said to have to take obetrol (the Adderall precursor) as
frequently as one might eat tic tacs, so he was still, by your own admission,
a drug addict.

Really though, the point I was trying to make is that he wasn't a very good
artist, not because he wasn't capable of it, but because he didn't really try.
I could produce a dozen such works an hour (his commercial illustrations), and
I'm not an artist either. The difference is, I don't claim to be a
professional artist.

I'm not mad at him for making a living, or doing what he loved to do. I just
don't think that he was a good artist.

------
sethbannon
Warning: zooming in and examining each component in detail is a huge time
suck. Lot's of fun though.

~~~
orta
(disclaimer: I work for Artsy where this is hosted )

Agreed, I loved reading the smaller copy on the schematics! I don't understand
the electrics but I certainly appreciate the well laid out design of the
hardware.

~~~
keithpeter
Well, I won't be bidding, but I'd pay a sensible amount for a good print of
that photo!

~~~
ctdonath
As votes aren't publicized, I'll second that. It's a very nice photo,
providing a great deal of information in a clear attractive form.

Straight high-res .PNG at minimum please? or an "order prints here" link as
appropriate?

~~~
gregsadetsky
Here's a semi high-res of one of the schematics panels:
[http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/...](http://www.digibarn.com/history/06-11-4-VCF9-Apple30/images/apple-1-schematic-3-10-76.jpg)

[edit] Found a more complete, higher resolution version:
[http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-
scan.pdf](http://pdfcast.org/download/apple-1-schematic-scan.pdf) (you do need
to click the download button, and enter a captcha. but it's worth it)

[edit 2] As for the motherboard itself, photos of many Apple Is are available
here:
[http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm](http://www.willegal.net/appleii/apple1-originals.htm)

------
austenallred
I saw the address in Palo Alto and was curious as to where that is now. Looks
like it's the Stanford Medical Center Nephrology Clinic
[http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg](http://imgur.com/e2hFXOx.jpg)

Also, note even the paper of the user guide and the rivets used to bind the
paper. They show great care. Most people (myself included) would have just
printed on normal paper and stapled them together.

~~~
Stratoscope
Apple was never actually "in" that building at 770 Welch Road. It was their
answering service and mail drop when they were still in the garage.

Here's a better view of the building:

[https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll...](https://www.google.com/maps?q=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+CA&ll=37.437973,-122.175876&spn=0.002485,0.003401&sll=37.437765024837546,-122.17619510000003&sspn=0.0017582183973974524,0.002836423689035117&t=h&hnear=770+Welch+Rd,+Palo+Alto,+Santa+Clara,+California+94304&z=19)

The answering service was on the first floor near the front door - right near
the map pin in that view.

I have a somewhat embarrassing story about Steve and me and that answering
service:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the...](http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/h4n5w/i_was_one_of_the_first_people_steve_jobs_ever/)

~~~
gcb0
> So, if I'd joined Apple, I may well have insisted on not getting any stock.

Didn't steve stole the stock and pay of all the first employees anyway?

~~~
gcb0
People are downvoting history now?

~~~
austenallred
He never "stole" stock or pay from any of the early employees, he just never
included stock options as part of the compensation, meaning they weren't a
part of the windfall when Apple went public. Woz thought they should have, so
he gave them some of his.

Also, unimportant sidenote (just trying to be helpful) - the correct way to
say that is "didn't Steve steal stock").

~~~
gcb0
thanks for both corrections

------
danielweber
Hey kids! Look at the symbols over the numbers on the top row of the keyboard
in the picture. Now compare them to the symbols on the top row of your
keyboard. Now compare them both to ASCII symbols 0x20-0x2a.

I grew up on a keyboard like this one. Not on an actual Apple-I, though. :(

~~~
WalterBright
Did the keyboard come with it originally?

I find it odd that the cable wires soldered to the connector on the keyboard
are not in the order the wires are on the cable, leading to a bit of a snarl.

~~~
csixty4
The Apple I was just a board and you could connect any ASCII keyboard to it.
The Byte Shop probably had a standard one they sold with theirs, though.

------
dmckeon
Any guesses as to what the "3 × 9 in" dimension refers to? Is this a photo, a
postcard, the size of one component, or what? I'm thinking that the wooden
mounting board would be around 18 inches by 24 inches.

~~~
dblock
(dB. from artsy.net here)

These dimensions were wrong, now corrected to 15 1/2 x 9''. Here's the full
item description.

An Apple-1 motherboard, numbered 01-0025 on the reverse in black ink, Apple
Computer 1 Palo Alto Ca. Copyright 1976 etched on obverse, signed 'Woz' in
black ink on breadboard area, with four rows of components labeled A-D and
columns 1-18, three large filter capacitors, heatsink on +5V regulator, all
ICs socketed, MOS 6502 processor marked MOS MCS 6502 1576 in white ceramic
package, cassette board connector, 8k DRAM memory, firmware in two 256 x 4
PROMs. 15.5in. (39.4cm.) x 9in. (22.9cm.)

------
sambeau

      Design Engineer - S. Wozniak
      Project Engineer - S.Jobs
    

Interesting to see Woz as 'Design' and Jobs as 'Project'.

~~~
msteinert
Wozniak designed (and built) the Apple I circuit. Jobs was not an engineer, he
filled the marketing role.

~~~
sambeau
I believe that is an over-simplification and slightly revisionist take on
early Apple history. Jobs was more technical than he is given credit for these
days: Atari had employed him as a technician.

However, next to Woz any of us would look like just a marketing guy. Nor would
I sugest that anyone but Woz designed the Apple's circuitry.

------
mahrain
Here's a cool story on the Macintosh, and a totally unrelated -- but still
very cool picture accompanying it.

------
boneheadmed
I would pay for simply having a poster of this. Would love to inspire my kids
with it.

