Recreating the Apple-1

At KansasFest 2009, July 21 to 26 in Kansas City, Missouri, retrocomputing fans from around the world gathered to celebrate the Apple II, the computer that launched Apple Computer to fame.

But going back even further than that is the Apple-1 (a.k.a. the Apple I or the Apple 1), the machine Steve Wozniak invented and first demonstrated at the Palo Alto Homebrew Computer Club in 1976.

In attendance at KansasFest was Vince Briel, who has created an authorized reproduction of this classic machine. Briel's Replica 1 sells for $149 and comes as an unassembled kit. He held a workshop at KansasFest to help new owners put together their own working Apple-1 machines.

As a regular KansasFest attendee (and the conference's marketing director), I was one of his students. Follow along as I assemble a fully functional Apple-1 clone, as documented in these photos by Emily Kahm.

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