Apple's first computer went on sale in 1976 for the unusually specific and somewhat satanic price of exactly six hundred and sixty-six dollars and sixty-six cents.

A price built to be remembered

The Apple I’s repeating price was more than a curiosity: it made an unfamiliar product easier to recall. In 1976, personal computers were still largely assembled by hobbyists, and a price ending in an unusual sequence could help a new machine stand out in a small, specialized market. The number also fit the economics of selling a product at a markup over its wholesale cost.

That choice did not make the Apple I a ready-to-use computer. It was a preassembled circuit board—the board carrying the machine’s electronic components—but not a complete desktop setup. Buyers had to provide the keyboard, a display, and a case, then connect and house the parts themselves.

A computer was a project, not an appliance

That distinction shaped the product. The board contained the core electronics, including the processor and memory, but it still needed equipment to accept input and show output. A keyboard let the user enter commands; a monitor made the results visible. The buyer’s own enclosure gave the exposed electronics somewhere to live.

For hobbyists, this could be a feature rather than a flaw: they could choose their own peripherals and build a system around the board. For someone expecting to take home a finished machine, it meant more purchases and more work. The Apple I sat between a do-it-yourself kit and a conventional consumer appliance—an early computer sold in a form that assumed its owner was willing to finish the setup.

The memorable price applied to the board, not to a complete computer station. That gap between what the product included and what the buyer still had to supply is part of what made early personal computing feel like a hands-on craft.