The Apple I was Apple's first product. It was demonstrated in April 1976 at the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto, California. Sold as an assembled circuit board, it lacked basic features such as a keyboard, monitor, and case. So, how do you think folks used it?

Easy! The owners had to provide these key features for themselves.

The Apple I, also known as the Apple-1, was an early personal computer. Each one of them was designed and hand-built by Steve Wozniak. Woz, as many of you know, had (and still has) a friend called Steve, who recently "got the flu". Steve came up with the idea of selling the computer.

The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 at a price of $666.66. The rather strange price reflects Wozniak's fondness for repeating digits, but also the one-third markup added to the original $500 price it was sold for to a local shop. Around 200 units were produced.

Unlike other hobbyist computers of the day, which were sold as kits, the Apple I was a fully assembled circuit board containing about 30 chips. But, as noted above, users still had to add a case, power supply, keyboard, and display to turn it into a "working" computer. An optional board providing a cassette interface for storage was later released at a cost of $75, while low-cost monitors were already available.

The Apple I is sometimes credited as the first personal computer to be sold in fully assembled form. However, some argue that the title rightfully belongs to other machines, such as the MOS Technology KIM-1, Datapoint 2200, or the Altair 8800 (which could be bought in kit or assembled form for extra cost). Still, Apple I was indeed the first personal computer to use a keyboard, making this the one major difference that set Woz and Steve's computer apart from the others.

As of 2008, an estimated 30 to 50 Apple Is are still known to exist, making it a very rare collector's item. An Apple I reportedly sold for $50,000 at auction in 1999, while a more typical price for an Apple I is in the $14,000-$16,000 range. A software-compatible clone of the Apple I (Replica 1), produced using modern components, was released in 2003 at a price of around $200.

(Source: Wikipedia)