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Early Apple Employees Auction Killer Collectibles

If there’s a good thing about the recession, it seems to be bringing some fine Apple memorabilia out of storerooms and closets.
Cliff and Dick Huston — ex-Apple engineers, for the record employees 27 and 25 — have decided to part with a treasure trove of Cupertino collectibles by auctioning them on eBay.

What’s on the block:

Apple [...]

Video: There’s Sexy Technology, Then There’s This…

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You’re all going crazy with your iPad ordering. Meanwhile, over on Vimeo, BrewBeau has some craziness of his own going on.
BrewBeau writes: “I’m a recent PC convert who waited patiently while Apple worked out the kinks with their latest iMac release of the 27″ Intel powered 2.8GHz quad core i7 iMac. It’s a thing of [...]

Bottom-Feeding Jeweler Unveils Despicable Diamond iPad for $20,000

We all know the wait for the iPad, at least in the U.S., will be over on April 3, right? Wrong. True connoisseurs know they need to wait until June 1, when Mervis Diamond Importers will unleash the hideous and despicable Diamond iPad on the world. It’s a bejeweled and bedazzled monstrosity boasting 11.43 carats [...]

iPhone App Magnets To Appify Your Fridge

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If – like me – your fridge is black, then these shiny iPhone app fridge magnets from Jailbreak Collective will look very smart indeed displayed on the door.
Just 13 bucks gets you a set of these icon almost-replicas. I say almost because if you look carefully, you’ll see they’re not identical to the Apple originals. [...]

Sketchy-Looking iPhone 3GS Prototype on eBay

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Up for sale is on eBay is a sketchy-looking, non-functioning white iPhone described as a prototype demo unit of the brand new GS model.

The auction has attracted two bids and is currently running at $305, even though the iPhone doesn’t work.

The seller says there’s a problem with restoring the software: “This device is not eligible for the requested build,” iTunes says when he tries to restore it.

The seller, vofffka, of Ocean City, New Jersey, says an Apple genius at his local retail store verified the iPhone as an Apple product, but can’t service it, “because it’s never been sold.”

WTF that means, who knows?

The seller has a very high rating. He is currently selling several unlocked iPhones.

Where did he get this prototype? Get this. In the QA section, a potential buyer asks the same question, and gets this reply:

“Hi! It is currently NOT WORKING, I got it on ebay a month ago and the guy I got it from told me he found it in the airport. Thanks!”

Yeah, that makes me feel real keen to bid on this item.

Here’s a link to the auction: White 16GB APPLE IPHONE 3G S PROTOTYPE UNIT!

More pictures after the jump.

Via Fixyourthinking.com


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About the author

Leander Kahney

Leander Kahney is the editor of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

Email the author | Read more posts by Leander Kahney.

10 comments

    I think it’s a 3G… The Model No says A1241. I have a GS with model No A1303. Also “iPhone 16GB” and the trademark symbols don’t have the shiny tint like the Apple logo.

    [...] Out TBC | £TBC | eBay (Via Cult Of Mac) [...]

    It is a 3G… the words iPhone and the other print would be chrome if it was a 3GS. And since when did prototypes have serial numbers? and the employees at my store don’t open the iPhones in store, they are usually swapped with a refurbished model…

    Did anyone else notice the screen protector on the iPhone? I think that number was etched into the screen protector.

    well I just went to the serial number look up site that I use all the time and is completely accurate and it says the following…

    Serial number: 8884409K3NQ (cleaned up from ‘8884409k3nq’)
    Name: Apple iPhone 3GS
    Model: iPhone 3GS
    Family name: A1303
    Colour: Please tell us what colour this iPhone is.
    Capacity: 16GB
    Memory – number of slots: Please tell us how many memory (RAM) slots this machine has.
    Factory: 88 (Shenzhen, China)
    URL: Technical specifications by apple-history.com code_to_number: 09K – 4H5440GDRJ7

    Model introduced: 2009
    Production year: 2008
    Production week: 44 (November)
    Production number: 325 (within this week)

    notice the production year and week….this phone was made last November

    very interesting…this is prob right on the money…I think it is a prototype that has had it’s serial number blocked from itunes…prob cuz of the loss or stolen nature of the phone…bet this guy is going to get a mint for it

    @scott. Very interesting. What’s the URL for the serial number lookup site?

    Here is the link to get the S/N details.

    http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

    Dave

    shutdown internet+ clutch shift or option + click restore+chose ipsw=restore=>working iphone

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