Τι και εάν έχουν περάσει 20 χρόνια από την ήμερα που άφησε το εργοστάσιο …
Ένας Apple II περίμενε μέχρι τώρα να βγει από το κουτί του.

Δυο δεκαετίες μετά σαν να άνοιξε μια τρυπά στον χρόνο ο Budiac ανοίγει για πρώτη φορά ένα κουτί, ένα κουτί που έχει μέσα αυτόν τον παλιό άλλα ακόμη υπέροχο υπολογιστή.

Ο υπολογιστής έφτασε στα χέρια του αφού είχε κερδίσει μια δημοπρασία στο ebay, το ποσό που πλήρωσε ήταν κάτι παραπάνω από 2.500$ …

Στο Flickr μπορείτε να δείτε τις φωτογραφίες που τραβήχτηκαν κατά το άνοιγμα της συσκευασίας, ενώ λίγο πιο κάτω μπορείτε να διαβάσετε το γράμμα του χαρούμενου ιδιοκτήτη προς τον κύριο Steve Jobs.

Friday, February 8th, 2008

Apple, Inc.
Attn: Steve Jobs
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014

Dear Mr. Jobs:

My name is Dan Budiac, and I have been an Apple user since the age of five. In 1979, my father purchased an Apple ][+ and connected it to a black-and-white television from JC Penney. Several years later, we upgraded to an Apple //e, complete with dual Disk ][ floppy drives.

Then, on Christmas morning of 1986, I opened a very special gift left beneath the tree: an Apple //c, the first computer that belonged to me and me alone. I lovingly assembled my new computer in my bedroom, and spent countless hours playing computer games, writing programs, and dialing into local bulletin board systems.

Over the last few months, I’ve grown particularly nostalgic for those days spent with my childhood computer. I perused the auction listings on Ebay for old Apples, even bidding on a few lots, but most units were quite weathered, yellowed by years of use and exposure to the sun. Then, in late January, I found a one-in-a-million computer up for auction: an Apple //c, new in the box. It hadn’t seen the light of day since May 5, 1988, when it was shipped to an Apple reseller as a sales incentive.

I watched with anticipation over the next few days, hoping that the auction would go unnoticed by collectors. I’m happy to say that, in the end, mine was the winning bid! Some might consider $2,600 an absurd price to pay for an old computer, but I think it was worth every penny. I now own a piece of history, and of my childhood.

I closely followed the shipment of my “new” computer, and upon its arrival, I had a decision to make. Do I leave it in the box, letting it accrue collector’s value? Or, do I open it and stay up until 4:00 in the morning playing Oregon Trail? In the end, I decided that I didn’t buy the computer as an investment. A computer wants to be used, and it had been sitting in the box for far too long.

That night, I sat down and carefully removed the contents of the still-factory-sealed box. My fiancee, Kathryn, photographed the process, and we posted the results to Flickr to share with friends.

dansays.com/apple2c/

Over the next few days, our friends emailed their friends, who posted the link to their blogs. The story was eventually picked up by Boing Boing, Gizmodo, CrunchGear, and Digg. As of this writing, the 38 photos of the unboxing have collectively received over two million views from Apple enthusiasts around the world, many of whom left heartfelt comments expressing nostalgia for their first computer as well.

As with all of my Apple products, I feel it is my responsibility to send in the warranty registration card in a timely fashion. While I’m quite certain it is no longer covered by AppleCare, I thought you might enjoy knowing that the Apple //c bearing serial number “XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX” has found a home.

Warmest regards,

Daniel G. Budiac

P.S. You may also be interested to know that I am writing this letter using AppleWorks II, and printing to letterhead designed using The Print Shop by Broderbund.