Before the age of mobile devices and other smart devices, and even before the internet, there was a peaceful time where computers were tools for computing and nothing more.
Around that time, Apple was founded.
Its founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, may have never thought that Apple would eventually become a $1 trillion company, and later, a $2 trillion company.
But what was certain, both tech pioneers were full of passion and eager to conquer the market.
And their earliest attempt to achieve that dream, was Apple in developing its first-ever product, the Apple I computers.
Or also called the Apple-1 computers, only 200 units were designed, hand-built and assembled.
They were tested personally by Jobs and Wozniak, with help from Patty Jobs and Daniel Kottke in Jobs' family garage, and were sold for $666.66 in 1976.
Forty-five years later, a still-functioning one was auctioned off for a staggering price.
This auctioned unit is equipped with “NTI” motherboard with original blue Sprague 39D capacitors, original power regulators, original “Circle D” ceramic .01 capacitors, and an Apple Cassette Adapter (ACI). It also comes with Datanetics Keyboard Rev D, and a Panasonic monitor (originally sold separately).
It also uses Koa wood as its case.
The patinated wood is native to Hawaii, and was abundant in the 1970s, before becoming much rarer and more expensive dur to grazing and logging.
This particular Apple-1 computer is also accompanied by a period Xerox copy of the Apple-1 Basic Manual, the Apple-1 Operations Guide, an original MOS 6502 programming manual, and two Apple-1 software cassette tapes with period hand-written index card with memory locations for the Apple-1 loading software; further accompanied by three original video, power, and cassette interface cables.
When it was new, it was featured at The Byte Shop in Mountain View, California, which was the first store to sell Apple products.
Apple-1 computers were the first computers that marked the start of the personal computer industry.
They were also the first personal computers that came with a warranty.
"It was guaranteed to work," said Corey Cohen, an Apple and technology historian.
"Prior to that, there were other computers. They were kits. They mostly didn't work when you got them."
Apple-1 was the computer that Apple founders wish "isn't something to be afraid of, a computer is something that can be part of your life and can help improve your life."
And this particular Apple-1 computer, was auctioned off by John Moran Auctioneers in Monrovia, California.
"What we have with the Apple-1 is sort of like the holy grail of vintage computer collecting," Cohen added, referring to this particular Apple-1 computer.
The computer auctioned is known as the "Chaffey College" Apple-1 because its original owner was a professor at Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
The professor sold the computer to a student a year after purchasing it, which was in 1977, because he wanted to buy an Apple-II computer.
And it was that student who kept the computer, until it went to auction at John Moran Auctioneers.
"This Apple-1 has recently undergone an extensive authentication, restoration, and evaluation process by one of the foremost experts in the field, who inspected all components and generated a full condition report for the Apple-1," reads the listing.
And according to the auction house, there are only six examples of Apple-1 with the Koa case left.
Auction started at $200,000, was was expected to reach at least $600,000.
It was auctioned off at $500,000.