Bizarre reason why Apple's first ever computer was priced at $666.66
There's no denying the might of Apple these days, and with the iPhone making up nearly half of the tech giant's sales, the mobile market is where it's at. That wasn't always the case, and with its humble start in 1976, the company's early days were remembered for its computers. Even now, MacBooks and iMacs make up for a healthy portion of Apple's sales when we don't want to type on those little computers in our hands.
Way back when, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak built the Apple I computer out of Jobs' family garage in California, founding Apple with Ronald Wayne purely to sell the Apple I.
When the Apple I was originally released, it came without a monitor, keyboard, or casing, although they were later added. The first big order came from a computer shop owner called Paul Terrell, who placed an order for 50 computers at a wholesale price of $500 each.
That's quite a chunk of money back then, but for most, the Apple I cost a spooky $666.66. For those who don't get the reference, 666 is typically associated with the Devil, and although we were still a few years away from the Satanic panic wave of the '80s, the pricing has some eerie associations.
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Over on Reddit, one thread points out how Apple's logo is the apple with a bite out of it - potentially symbolizing Adam and Eve being tempted by the Devil (a snake) to eat the forbidden fruit.
Someone else in the thread went full tinfoil hat and claimed the ribbon on the original looks like a snake, but in reality, Apple isn't some Satan-loving cult.
As noted by some, the original Apple logo was Sir Isaac Newton sitting under a tree. In terms of pricing, the aforementioned $500 was the wholesale price, with the general sale price being a third more. This would put it at $667, but Wozniak apparently liked the repetition of numbers so settled on $666.66 without realizing what it could mean.
In a face-to-face interview with Charles Turley, Wozniak reportedly said: "I simply like triple digit numbers with all the things I’m involved with, the cost of making the Apple 1 was around $540 or there a bouts and we agreed on the best markup, retail price above the cost of building it, which worked out to $666.
"Jobs then tacked on the 66 cents to make it an eye-catcher price for the ads with the sale and promotion publications of it to the public.”
In a Q&A with CNET, Wozniak reiterated: "We didn’t know the number had religious significance, we found out."
Satan aside, the Apple I put Apple on the map. Wozniak built 200 units by hand, and all but 25 of them sold. The Apple I was quickly succeeded by the Apple II, and the rest is history. To this day, the most expensive Apple I sold was back in 2014 when someone shelled out $905,000 for a working unit.