Earlier than turning into synonymous with fruit and turtlenecks, Steve Jobs spent a short spell at Atari, which on the time was the largest videogame firm on the earth. Employed by the legendary Al Alcorn—best-known for creating Pong—in 1974, when he was solely 18, Jobs grew to become Atari employee number 40. Appropriately sufficient, essentially the most notorious story from his time there’s how he bought Steve Wozniak to do all of the heavy lifting on lowering Breakout’s chip utilization, then diddled Woz on the cash obtained as a reward.
Jobs did not keep at Atari lengthy, heading off to India to hunt religious enlightenment after six months, then returning in 1975 earlier than leaving to ascertain Apple on January 1, 1976 (he supplied Atari CEO Nolan Bushnell 1/third of Apple for $50,000; Bushnell turned it down). However it’s a noteworthy a part of his profession—he was, by all accounts, a scruffy and somewhat aromatic hippy looking for his manner, and a giant tech firm took a punt on him.
This is the reason there was appreciable curiosity round an public sale for what presupposed to be Steve Jobs’ utility to affix Atari in 1973 (thanks, iMore). The unique letter was to be accompanied by an NFT of the letter—inexplicably—in RR Public sale’s ‘The Steve Jobs Revolution: Engelbart, Atari, and Apple’.
The now-suspended itemizing learn:
Unimaginable Atari job utility questionnaire stuffed out and signed by Steve Jobs, one web page, 8.5 x 11, annotated 1973 in one other hand. Jobs fills out the doc along with his title, “Steven jobs”; deal with, “reed school”; cellphone, “none”; and main, “english lit.” Within the center part, he writes “sure” in response to ‘Driver’s License?’ and “doable, however not possible,” in reply to ‘Entry to transportation?’ With regard to his abilities, subsequent to ‘Laptop’ and ‘Calculator,’ he writes, “sure (design, tech).” On the backside, he describes his ‘Particular Skills’ as “electronics tech or design engineer. digital.-from Bay close to Hewitt-Packard [sic].” In superb situation, with intersecting folds, general creasing, mild staining, and a few previous clear tape to the highest edge.
How a lot for an autograph?
The identical public sale that has seen this lot withdrawn additionally offered a letter wherein Jobs says he would not do autographs for an astonishing $479,939. The joke is, he indicators it with a flourish. Which is humorous however come on: nothing’s this humorous.
RR Public sale has now eliminated the merchandise, and confirmed to iMore that this is because of newly raised doubts about whether or not it’s, in truth, Jobs’ utility to Atari. The authenticity of the merchandise shouldn’t be unsure—that’s, that is undoubtedly a type filled-in by Steve Jobs—however the suggestion is now that it originates from a part-time job at Reed Faculty’s psych lab which Jobs held in 1973. The letter is dated 1973 and Jobs joined Atari in 1974.
RR Public sale VP Bobby Livingston confirmed that an ” consumer” had found the details about Job’s part-time work at Reed Faculty, the place he spent his time repairing lab tools. The difficulty appears to be that individuals simply weren’t super-aware that Jobs had this… job. As such, this letter’s relation to Atari is now an open query.
That is significantly shocking in mild of the truth that it has beforehand been offered with out such questions over its provenance. The present proprietor purchased it at Bonhams in July 2021 for $343,000 (and the NFT for $27,000), the place it was offered because the Atari utility and described as a chunk of historical past “from the precise second {that a} dreamer modified the world.”
When a man bought a part-time gig to make some dough simply would not have the identical ring to it, I suppose.
To be clear: this might nonetheless turn into linked to Atari. Certainly, one of many further confusions is that it comes with a letter of authenticity signed by Allan Alcorn, who employed Jobs. Nevertheless, the sale has been stopped for the second whereas additional investigations attempt to decide the reality.
Objects like these are valued totally on their hyperlinks to historical past, and Jobs memorabilia is a vastly speculative market. This can be a Steve Jobs job utility, and as such could have worth for collectors of all stripes. However the distinction between Atari and Reed Faculty may very effectively have costly penalties for the present proprietor.
