Early computing items sold at auction
Tech Holiday Gift Guide |
10 best PlayStation 3 games of 2009 With a slew of exclusive games, the PlayStation 3 is finally hitting its stride. |
Real Women’s Guide to Technology |
An MSN special that focuses on consumer technologies that can benefit women. |
Tech and gadgets videos |
Texting may be bad for you Dec. 17: New studies find that texting is not only bad for your eyes, but can cause chronic pain in the neck, shoulders and fingers. Dr. Nancy Snyderman talks with opthamalogist Dr. Roger Steinert and spine surgeon Dr. Charles Rosen. |
Video |
Auto Tech |
A better economy may lure buyers, but these trends could seal the deal. |
NEW YORK - Documents from the early days of computing catalogued as "The Origins of Cyberspace" brought in more than $700,000 at auction, though nearly half the items didn't find a buyer.
Top sellers in the Christie's auction included a 1946 business plan with designs for the first electronic computers. It sold for $72,000 to a private buyer.
J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, who wrote the document, were the engineers behind the Electronic Control Co., the world's first electronic computer firm. The two boldly predicted a market for their machines -- at a time before venture capital, microchips and software.
The highest-selling piece was a sketch of an analytical engine from 1843. It sold to a private buyer for $78,000.
All told, the sale brought in $714,060 from the sale of 133 out of 254 lots, Christie's said. The papers belonged to a longtime California book dealer, Jeremy Norman, who began gathering this collection of books and documents outlining the history of the digital world in 1998.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS |
| Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: |
Resource guide


