In 1978, Apple was destroying its first computers; Steve Jobs sent a letter to an engineer, with $400, asking to return the machine; he declined; 50 years later it may get $800,000 in auction

Apple spent much of 1977 and 1978 trying to make its first computer disappear. In January 1978, the company’s co-founder Steve Jobs wrote to New Orleans engineer Fred Hatfield, offering him $400 and an upgraded board in exchange for his Apple-1, with instruc