So today, we're going to talk about collectability of Apple iBook Laptops and you know the irony is if you go back years ago when I used to run my computer Business
And it was not uncommon for me to have hundreds of Apple iBooks laying around my workshop
now that was a long Time Ago and I haven't Worked on iBooks in forever it seems like and
This particular one is the only one I've even held on to and
It's an ibook G4 and the Logic board has a problem where Basically
No Wi-Fi card will ever work in it again and so I didn't sell and I just decided to keep it just
So I'd have an iBook to play with every now and then
but Now Here's the irony
I'm the iBook Guy and I've been out on surfing eBay trying to buy you know used iBooks in Order to
you know put some in my museum because I'm a collector and
So anyway you know many of my viewers have asked me "Are iBooks Collectible?" I think they are and that's what
We're Going to talk about, now I did want to point out this is June of 2015 so if you're watching this Video
years from now then you might Keep in mind that the Prices and Stuff Collectability values may have changed
Some From what I'm about to show you, okay so the other thing I want to tell you is if you
had an old IBM or
Dell Or Compaq Or Hewlett-Packard
Or something like that laying around, Those computers are probably never going to become collectible
Now I can't Guarantee it but they probably
Won't because they're just too generic and they don't really hold any historical or Pop-Culture Significance now
Everything Apple Makes on the other Hand will probably become
Collectible at some point because of how unique and how
Iconic their products are and just to give you an example of that let me show you a series of movie clips Containing iBook Clamshell
It can Be Seen in The Beginning of the Princess Diaries although it isn't being used by a major Character
In Legally blonde Reese Witherspoon's Character Can, Actually be Seen Purchasing one and then using it in Class
Sethro Chan Uses One in Zack and Miri Make Porno
The Main Character uses one in Under the Tuscan sun
Wili's Character in The Glass House Uses one For her Homework and
You can also find the G3 and G4 Models as well in several movies and here's some clips from some of those
One can be seen in Spy Kids 2 but you have to look pretty closely
You can clearly see this one in John Tucker must die
Ben Stiller uses this one in Meet the Fockers
Anne Hathaway uses one in the movie One day
and they're also used in the TV Series iCarly only that are slightly modified as "PearBooks"
Now it should be important to note how the life cycle of collectible computers go
When they're brand new they start out very
expensive and then as they become obsolete they eventually become worthless in
Fact they can often wind up costing more to ship than they're even worth
At this point most old computers will go
Into the Trash Or end up being Recycled in One Form or another but
Some Computers will Become Collectible at Which Point Their Value will Increase and Sometimes Far Beyond Their [Original] value, okay so
Where are TheiBooks in This Stage of the game now Honestly I'm going to Say that Clam Shells are Probably right About
Here it Is not Uncommon to see them Selling for several Hundred Dollars on ebay if They're in excellent Shape
The Tangerine and key Lime Versions Are the Most expensive for some Reason Possibly Because There were Fewer of Those colors Made
I don't know so if You're not too picky about color [you] Can Still pick Up an, ibook Clamshell G3
Fairly Cheaply [I] bought This one Here for about you know Fifty Dollars but believe it or not this is Actually
I didn't Buy it as one Machine is Actually 2 separate Purchases [I] bought One For 25 dollars with A broken Screen and Touchpad and
Then I bought Another One For 25 Dollars that Had Just About everything else broken and I used the Best Parts from each and Made
A nice Indigo Clamshell
so if you're Willing to put a little Work Into it you Can Still get One Pretty Cheaply
One Thing that I really missed About the ibook Clamshell
Is how nice They are to type on Especially When
I'm sitting here in My Recliner [I] don't know Exactly what it Is but it's something About the Ergonomics of it There's Just Nothing as
Comfortable To type on
They May not Be good for much of Any modern
Applications but for using Text Editor they Work Great in fact I wrote the script to this very Video on my Clamshell
On a somewhat related note When i took this up the Screen out of this Clamshell [you] know and Notice that There is this Foil
Covering up the Logo on the Back I decided to Peel it Off and Notice that it appears the aluminum Shield
Was actually Cut Perfectly to the Shape of the apple Logo?
Everyone Knows that the next Generation of ibook Did in Fact Have a light-Up apple Symbol it Seems as if they had
Been Planning to do the Light-Up Logo on even The Clamshell and for some Reason They changed Their mind now [the] Logo Is
Dark-Coloured so the light doesn't come Through Nearly as Brightly as, on the New Ones but you Can Certainly See it
Alright so here's a question where did the snow G3 and G4 Ibooks Fall on my little Diagram Here
Well They're Pretty much Right Here at Rock Bottom
okay, so you Can, Buy a Fully working
Snow G3
Laptop for like, Less than 50 dollars in Fact This May Surprise you this Unit right here
i bought This on ebay Just last Week and I Paid
$20 for it plus Shipping so Ended Up working out About 20-30 bucks total
Everything Works on it even The Battery Works on it which I was blown away by the only Thing Actually that Didn't Work
Was the right Speaker and I still had A lot of Parts Left over from
Back When I used to Work on ibook so I had a speaker and Replaced it you know
No big deal it wouldn't Been an expensive Part Anyway
And the thing is a darn good Condition and so you know I've also noticed There's really
No Price Difference between the 600, 700, 800, or 900 Megahertz Models This is the 900 Megahertz and There, also
Doesn't Seem to be any [price] Difference in the
The Screen Size Whether it's the 12 inch or the 14 inch and I think the Reason for that is because
Nobody That's Buying These units Today is Actually Planning on Actually you know using them for any Kind of Work or anything like that so
[I] think the only People who are Buying or Probably Collectors at this Point
So yeah if you're Planning to Buy an ibook Clamshell, or snow G3 Or even A
G4 For That Matter for your Collection
Now is the Time They Have reached Rock Bottom and I don't think There's Anywhere for the Price to go other Than up
so yeah I think These Clamshells
Particularly Like the key Lime [and] The Tangerine Possibly will Be Worth Many Many Hundreds of Dollars Maybe Thousands
you know [ten] Or [twenty] Years from now and I even Think these These will Probably
Never Be Quite as Collectible
But They're Definitely going to go Up in [Value] I would not be Surprised 10 Or 20 Years from now These are Worth several Hundred
Dollars
So incidentally I wanted to show you my latest item to add to my museum I've Just Picked this up it's A [tandy] Model 200
Laptop Computer Probably The First very First Ever Computer with A, flip up screen
It's a little bit Dirty [I] need to clean it Up and
Do some Maybe some Peroxide Treatment To it there Brighten it up A bit but it Actually Works and
You know the other Thing I want to tell you though is if you're Going to collect Computers you need to make sure even
If They're ibooks Especially the White Ones you need to store Them in an Environment that is cool and dry
[You], don't want to Expose Them to any Heat or Any UV light so you know in A closet inside the House is Probably A
Good Place to Store Them and you, May Laugh but Let me Tell you a little Story you May
Come as a surprise [to] you, [that] I actually used to Own a fully functional apple Lisa
And i bought it for a Hundred Dollars [at] a sidewalk [sale] Back in The Middle 1990s
[Sometime] and I had it for A few Years the thing
Was a Monster Boat Anchor and I Didn't know what to do with It and
So i took it back out to the Sidewalk sale in Dallas and Tried to sell that thing
Few Years Later and Nobody Would Take it and um you know
I was trying to get like 50 Bucks for it Nobody Would Take it and at the very end before I was Packing up ready?
To go, Somebody offered me
$5 for that apple Lisa
And i Let him Have it because i didn't want to Take it back Home and
If I still had that thing Today it Would be Worth at least
$1,000 Maybe Maybe even Close to $2,000 as good as Shape as it was in and
They May
Also Surprise you to know that I had A commodore Pet and
It was Actually broken but It Could Have Been Fixed Without too much Difficulty and again Nobody Would Pay me Anything for that and I
Threw it in A trash Dumpster of all things Yeah I know it Should have gone To an E-waste
Recycling But I didn't know About Those Back then again because This
Was in The 1990s
if I still had that Commodore Pet Today it'd Probably be Worth six Or seven Hundred Dollars and it's just going to Keep Going
Up [to] so
You know things that May not, Necessarily Seem like they Have any Value Today will Have Value if They are Collectible
Okay, so that Concludes This Episode for the most part Just to give you a little bit of Glimpse of what's Coming up
I got A 3d printer and I've Been Kind of Learning how to use it and it's Actually Pretty Darn difficult but I'm going to
Build Some Interesting Things for you and I've Even Got a couple of Inventions I'm going to show you here that the
Stuff I dreamed up we'll See how that goes over?
Also i'm going to be Rebuilding a Battery for an Old ibook to show you had to put [new] Cells in Them
Since They're Getting pretty Hard to find good Batteries These Days and
I'Ve got several other Things Coming Up but These Episodes do Take a while to complete and Unlike some People
I don't produce the Video until I get something Really, Interesting to show you I don't like Just Producing
Junk Just to you know, Just [a] fill up space so uh
Anyway uh be sure to like my video that helps YouTube know that I'm Doing a good Job and I'll see you [next] Time