Arkive Unearths Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak’s Original Apple Computer Prototype with its Latest Acquisition of the Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter

• Nearly 50 years after its 1975 debut, newsletter issues 1,2,4,5 and 6 of the Homebrew Computer Club—one of the most influential forces in the formation of the culture of Silicon Valley and sparked the idea of the personal computer—have been acquired by Arkive.

• The acquisition was the first to utilize Arkive’s new online submission portal, which makes it easier for members of the community to propose ideas for acquisition. The round was titled ‘Media Social,’ in which members suggested items to acquire for its “When Technology Was a Game Changer” collection.

• The newsletter issues join seven other works, including the ENIAC patent (1946), the MTV Moonman prototype (1984) by Pat Gorman, and Madonna’s fans from her 1990 MTV VMA Performance of “Vogue.”

SAN FRANCISCO (February 6, 2022) – Arkive, the world’s first distributed museum curated by the people, today announces its recent acquisition of issues 1,2,4,5 and 6 of the Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter for its “When Technology Was a Game Changer” collection. Founded in a Menlo Park garage in 1975, The Homebrew Computer Club played a significant role in catalyzing the microcomputer revolution. The club’s impact has solidified its position as arguably the most critical computer hobbyist group in history.

Issues 1,2,4,5 and 6 of the newsletter illustrate a formative time in personal computing history. The club’s meetings allowed members to share new ideas, swap code and hardware, and encounter like-minded collaborators. The inaugural meeting is credited for inciting Steve Wozniak’s lightbulb moment that later led to the debut of the prototype for Apple-1. The first issue is now recognized as one of the earliest forces in shaping Silicon Valley culture and was published only ten days after the inaugural garage meeting. In this newsletter, readers learn the answer to a question posed to the 32 founding members: “What will people do with a computer in their home?”

Members wrote and refined the newsletters, which captured the ideas and happenings of the meetings. Notably, Bill Gates penned a byline in one of the issues, His “Open Letter to Hobbyists” (1976), as a plea to stop the free sharing of software for fear that software advancements would be impeded if developers weren’t fairly incentivized and compensated for their innovations.

“I can’t imagine a better fit for Arkive’s collection. The ideas, discussions, and inventions that happened in or as a result of the Homebrew Computer Club meetings are the very essence of this collection. ‘When Technology Was a Game Changer’ is all about objects that embody turning points in a culture driven by technological advances,” said Tom McLeod, co-founder and Executive Director of Arkive.

“The Homebrew Computer Club was instrumental in the formation of the culture of Silicon Valley and, therefore, the culture of the internet itself,” said a member of the Arkive community. “The opportunity for Arkive to own such a rare piece of ephemera firmly associates our organization with an important part of the history of computers and the genesis of an ongoing societal revolution.”

This acquisition joins seven other artworks and cultural artifacts. The first artifact introduced into Arkive’s collection was the patent for the world’s first computer, the ENIAC (1954). Next came Seduction (1985), a vintage photograph by Lynn Hershman Leeson, followed by the MTV Moonman prototype (1984) by Pat Gorman, which was succeeded by Arkive’s first video work acquisition, Eulogy for a Black Mass by Aria Dean. Next in the collection was Madonna’s three cloth fans from her “Vogue” performance for the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards, followed by Hormonium (2022) by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. Most recently, the community voted to acquire Electromagnetic Field (2022) by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla.

Arkive is taking applications for its founding membership. As a member, you will have curatorial power and access to IRL and digital experiences.

To apply to be a founding member, visit Arkive.net.

About Arkive

Arkive is the world’s first distributed museum curated by the people. Built by alums from MoMA and Gagosian, Arkive was co-founded by Tom McLeod, a 5x founder who exited his last startup, Omni, to Coinbase, and prior to that, ran Pagelime (acquired by SurrealCMS in 2015), LolConnect (acquired by Tencent in 2012), and Imaginary Feet which developed 15+ profitable iPhone apps enjoyed by over 10 million users.

For more information, visit Arkive.net.

Contact Information

Brook Klingel

Media Contact

VSC for Arkive

arkive@vsc.co