Bare-bones system hits eBay

One of Apple's earliest computers, the Lisa 1, has appeared for auction on eBay. A single $7,500 bid has been made so far; the model in question is said to be functional and largely intact, for instance including original floppy drives and ROMs as well as a keyboard. Absent from the auction are a mouse, battery and the Lisa system software.

Also missing is a serial number, which along with the claimed origins of the computer suggests that it could be an internal model. Development of the Lisa 1 began in 1978, culminating with a launch in January 1983. Steve Jobs is said to have been involved in the project until 1982, when he was pushed out and ultimately joined work on the first Macintosh.

Although the Macintosh became far more popular after its launch in 1984, the business-oriented Lisa 1 is noted to have been more technically advanced in some respects. It supported up to 2MB of RAM, and introduced early forms of multitasking and protected memory. The system cost nearly $10,000 at the time, but represented the first commercially-available PC with a graphical user interface.

by MacNN Staff