Tag Archives: manual

AI makes retinal imaging 100 times faster, compared to manual method – National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov)

  1. AI makes retinal imaging 100 times faster, compared to manual method National Institutes of Health (NIH) (.gov)
  2. Revealing speckle obscured living human retinal cells with artificial intelligence assisted adaptive optics optical coherence tomography | Communications Medicine Nature.com
  3. Breakthrough AI Accelerates Eye Disease Research with Superior Imaging Technique yTech
  4. AI-Enhanced Retinal Imaging 100X Faster Than Humans, and Better Too, NIH Says HealthLeaders Media
  5. As AI Eye Exams Prove Their Worth, Lessons for Future Tech Emerge The Good Men Project

Read original article here

Every US PS2 Game Manual Has Now Been Preserved in 4K (and It Cost $40,000)

A game preservationist called Kirkland has done a great service to the world of video games – he has created a complete set of U.S. PS2 game manuals online in 4K that can be viewed for free at any time. Oh, and it cost $40,000 to complete.

As reported by Kotaku, Kirkland has preserved over 1,900 PS2 game manuals, variants, art books, mini-guides, and comics by uploading them to Archive.org in 4K, and in doing so has forever opened a door to a time before the digital renaissance.

Kirkland’s Collection of PS2 Games (Image Credit: Kirkland and Kotaku)

These game manuals used to be part of the joy of purchasing a new game, and you’d read them to learn how to play the game, see special art and other surprises, and more. These manuals are mostly a thing of the past now and either live online or have disappeared altogether, but Kirkland has helped ensure they won’t ever be forgotten.

The entire package comes in at around 17GB (230GB before compression!) and are organized alphabetically so you can jump to your favorite game with ease. For example, you can jump right into the game manual of Final Fantasy X and learn about the controls, each of the characters, the battle system, abilities, Aeons, and more. Also included are ads for merchandise, the Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within DVD, and even an ad for Final Fantasy X-2.

As for why Kirkland chose to undergo this project that took him nearly 22 years to complete, he said it’s all about preserving that piece of history and that he wanted “our kids to be able to enjoy what we did.”

“The goal is to raise some awareness for game preservation efforts,” Kirkland said. “So many games growing up shaped how we looked at and experienced the world. Of course as we ‘grow up,’ we move to other things but there are a lot of us who have nostalgia for these things and want our kids to be able to enjoy what we did. The whole ‘read the books your father read’ deal. And there have been great efforts to preserve games: VGHF, the Strong Museum, and grassroots efforts like MAME, redump.org, No-Intro, and Cowering’s Good Tools before that. Which I always thought, ‘This is great! We’re going to have everything preserved. But without the manuals, we’re not going to know how to play them.’”

Kirkland had to take out the staples of each manual and scan each page through the Epson DS-870 sheetfed scanner. He then used a variety of apps to clean them up before uploading them in 2K and 4K resolution.

The Best PS1 Games Ever

Every U.S. PlayStation 2 Game Manual Is Now Scanned In 4K

Physical game manuals are hard to come by these days, especially as the industry begins to heavily lean into cloud streaming and digital-first infrastructures. But if you remember those good ole times when game boxes came with chunky pamphlets for you to peruse before jumping into your recent purchase, a games preservationist called Kirkland seeks to preserve that nostalgia for posterity by creating high-quality scans of the manuals of yore. In fact, he’s just finished uploading his complete set of U.S. PlayStation 2 manual scans.

Launched in the U.S. in October 2000—22 years ago this Wednesday—Sony’s PlayStation 2 was one of the most popular consoles ever. With more than 4,000 games released worldwide and selling approximately 158 million units globally, just about everyone had a PS2. Games like Jak & Daxter and Sly Cooper helped popularize the console among kids and tweens, while titles such as Metal Gear Solid 2 and Onimusha continued growing a more “mature” market. Devil May Cry 3, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts, Ratchet & Clank, Silent Hill 2 (which is getting remade now), Okami, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3—the list of PS2 hits goes on forever, all bangers.

My fave aspect of buying a new PS2 game was always reading the manual to see what tips, tricks, and occasionally cheats I could use. While that time is long gone, Kirkland has now preserved just over 1,900 of them, uploading every single U.S. PS2 manual to Archive.org in full 4K resolution for your downloading and scrolling pleasure. The set comes in it at roughly 17GB—it was 230GB before compression. That’s chonky.

Read More: Every Single English-Language SNES Manual Is Now Available Online

Each manual is just as cool as you might remember back in the ‘00s, with the high-quality scans highlighting the often-striking art. It really is a portal through time! I mean, browsing the manual for Square Enix’s Musashi: Samurai Legends (one of my fave PS2 games, ever) fills me with nostalgia, transporting me back to my grandma’s house when I’d stay up ‘til 3 a.m. slashing goons as the cropped-top wearing protagonist Miyamoto Musashi. Clearly, things haven’t changed much for me.

“The goal is to raise some awareness for game preservation efforts,” Kirkland told Kotaku. “So many games growing up shaped how we looked at and experienced the world. Of course as we ‘grow up,’ we move to other things but there are a lot of us who have nostalgia for these things and want our kids to be able to enjoy what we did. The whole ‘read the books your father read’ deal. And there have been great efforts to preserve games: VGHF, the Strong Museum, and grassroots efforts like MAME, redump.org, No-Intro, and Cowering’s Good Tools before that. Which I always thought, ‘This is great! We’re going to have everything preserved. But without the manuals, we’re not going to know how to play them.’”

Read More: The Decade-Long Struggle To Fund Oakland’s Scrappy Video Game Museum

Unfortunately for the manuals, scanning can be a pretty rough process. “My process is horrible. I pull the staples and run most everything through my Epson DS-870 sheetfed scanner. As a die hard perfectionist, using a document scanner is disappointing for quality, but a necessity due to volume,” he said. I spent seven months scanning SNES manuals and only made it to the letter ‘E’ using three flatbed scanners. With this setup I’ve been able to scan almost 75,000 pages in the last year alone.”

After the tedious work of scanning each page, Kirkland used a bevy of apps—like Adobe Acrobat Pro, Photoshop, Textpad, and PDF Combiner Pro—to get them as clean and pristine as possible before uploading them all to Archive.org in both 2K and 4K resolution. “I’ve spent entire summer vacations scanning manuals, only to discard them as I’ve gotten better equipment, or better processed,” he said. “Lots of late nights.”

Kirkland said he dropped about $40,000 on his U.S. PS2 collection as he methodically bought every U.S. release over the course of 22 years. “I grabbed new releases when they got down to $20 for about the first 800 releases, then I started picking up used sports games in good condition, then it was hunting down the odd variants (which is never-ending).”

Kirkland’s 4K U.S. PlayStation 2 scan set is likely the largest, highest-quality collection of video game manual scans publicly available, but to him, it doesn’t quite constitute “archival” quality.

Read More: Video Game History Foundation Goes Off On Nintendo’s ‘Destructive’ Retro Policies

“I consider this ‘functional preservation’ for now,” he said. “Since I’ve popped the staples, I can always chuck them on a flatbed to properly preserve them. But then it goes back to my perfectionist nature. What is ‘good enough’? 2400 dpi at 48-bit color (over one gigabyte per page). At what point are we archiving ink instead of images? There is no easy answer.”

Maybe further advances in technology will eventually make the task easier.

“In the future, I’d love to have an AI that can truly reconstruct the text and images as they were intended, correcting skew and properly descreening without blurring line art,” he said. “As it is, no one really wants a 600 dpi scan with staple holes and black edges, they just want the polished, finished project.“

Of course, getting there requires an incredible amount of labor on the part of the archivist.

While finishing over 1,900 PS2 manual scans might strike you as a good life’s work, it’s actually just another milestone for Kirkland. He’s previously completed the full set of U.S. SNES manuals in 2K (collecting those to scan cost him $8,000), and is in the process of chipping away at, SNES 4K, Atari 2600, and Game Boy. “I’ve scanned about 300 of the original PlayStation manuals the last few weeks,” he casually drops, as if it’s nothing.

Kirkland says he has about 7,500 manuals on hand, of which about 3,000 have already been preserved. He just wishes that this work didn’t all have to fall onto the backs of unusually motivated individuals like himself. “In a perfect world, companies would step up and release their original artwork sent to the presses for preservation,” he said. “But so many of those have been lost to history and hard drives over time.”

Hella hours and hella money later, that’s quite a collection.
Photo: Kirkland

Yet collaboration brings its own challenges.

“At this time it’s mostly a solo effort—which I’m hoping to change as I move on to systems I cannot 100%,” he said. “I’ve been burned in the past by collaborations, so I’ve been a little leery of attaching to other projects, in the hopes of having a little more control over quality and direction.”

The work is painstaking, and many of the manuals most in need of preservation are stuck in private collections or being jacked up in price by “investors.” But Kirkland plans to continue his scanning projects because, in his view, this work simply must be done before it becomes impossible.

“The internet has had 25 years to make it happen, and all we have are the same scanned manuals from 2004 that look like they came off a fax machine, or gimped NES manuals because NintendoAge old-timers were so paranoid people were going to counterfeit their expensive holy grails that they themselves scored for $5 at a garage sale in the ‘90s. It just doesn’t sit right with me that you have to pay $200 for the privilege of reading a Chrono Trigger manual that is actually legible.”

 

Read original article here

You Can Now Read Every Super Nintendo Manual Ever Released

Back in October 2020 I did a feature on a project that was trying to find every Super Nintendo manual in existence, scan them and upload them onto the internet. I’m happy to report that, as of July 2022, the project has now completed a significant—and for many of you reading this it’s primary—milestone.

When I published that feature, the team (including Arachness, BuffaloJoe, Timber, SNES Central and Grant Kirkhart) working on the project—led by streamer and archivist Peebs—had uploaded around 600 scans, and had only around 100 manuals remaining until they had scanned the instructions for every game ever released in the West during the console’s lifespan.

That was good progress, but also, the deeper they got through the SNES’ library, the harder it was going to be to find booklets for the weirdest and rarest games in the collection. Then, last week:

That means that the project’s archives now have an English manual for every single Super Nintendo game ever officially released in the language. Sometimes that’s the North American version, sometimes it’s the PAL (European/Australasian) version, sometimes it’s both if there were differences beyond just the cover artwork, spelling and mailing addresses in the back (like the way Contra 3 was called Super Probotector in PAL regions).

It’s not quite every game ever released in the West, since some games could get different unique releases depending on the language market, but since this is an English-language website I figured this was an important milestone for our readers to know about!

And it’s still very close. The team is just a single game shy of that “every Western manual ever” achievement by a single release: an original scan of the unique German-language version of Daze Before Christmas (though they do have a translated version of the rare English-language Mega Drive release in case anyone needs the information).

After that, though, it seems their work is never done. Even when every manual has been scanned and uploaded, some games—including many RPGs—had important information written down elsewhere, like on separate maps/posters, so they’re looking at getting those uploaded and scanned wherever possible as well. They’ve also got a Super Famicom manual section to chip away at as well.

If you want to take a look through the complete library, or jus bookmark it for a future time in need, it’s available here, though you can also just search for a particular game on the Internet Archive and it’ll come up there as well. And for something more action-packed, in addition to collecting their manuals Peebs is also working his way through the SNES library and trying to beat every single game on Twitch (at last count he only had 47 to go!)

Read original article here

Toyota Gives Supra A Manual, Skips Engine That Needed It Most

Image: Toyota

The sun shined a little brighter when Toyota teased that the Supra was getting a manual transmission. The lack of a stick-shift disqualified Toyota’s halo sports car for many enthusiasts, and while it’s still a great machine, it always felt like something was missing. That changed Thursday, as Toyota finally confirmed that the manual Supra is real — for some buyers.

Update April 29, 2022, 4:20 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with new information about the origin of the Supra’s manual.

First, the good news. Toyota says it went to great lengths to engineer this transmission and make it play nice with the BMW-sourced 3.0-liter turbocharged inline-six. BMW doesn’t offer this engine with a manual, so Toyota had to do a lot of legwork to realize a manual Supra. Here’s what some of that entailed, from Toyota’s press release:

The engineering team modified an existing transmission housing, driveshaft and gear set and removed elements that were not required, such as the acoustic package, which reduced weight. At the heart of the transmission is a newly engineered large diameter clutch with a reinforced diaphragm spring. With a larger friction area and a stronger spring, this new component has the high-performance capability appropriate for use with the GR Supra’s high-torque engine.

The newly developed 6-speed manual gearbox also features an intelligent Manual Transmission (iMT) programmed with new software that prioritizes sporty performance. When upshifting, the parameters are tuned to optimize engine torque at the moment of clutch engagement and release; on downshifts, the software has been fine-tuned for consistent performance. The iMT is set as the default but, if the driver prefers, it can be switched off in Sport mode.

To avoid a sluggish take-off and a low in-gear acceleration feel, the final drive ratio has been shortened, from 3.15 (in the GR Supra automatic) to 3.46 (in the GR Supra MT). The result is response and gearing appropriate for sports car performance.

The A91-MT limited edition Supra, of which only 500 will be sold in North America.
Image: Toyota

Following Toyota’s announcement, The Drive separately reported on Friday that the six-speed is, much like the Supra itself, of BMW origin. It’s a ZF unit “tuned by Toyota,” in so far as the Japanese automaker swapped out some parts for others — like the aforementioned large-diameter clutch, reinforced spring and the design of the shift knob:

“The parts used in the gearbox come from a combination of ZF manufactured manual transmissions, but the parts combination is exclusive to GR Supra,” a Toyota spokesperson told The Drive. “Toyota partnered with ZF and BMW on the design/layout of shift lever/pedal, decision of final gear ratio, tuning of iMT [rev-matching and upshift smoothing] function, and shift feel.”

This Supra-specific gearbox even gets its own, unique transmission code within BMW’s parts catalog: GS6L50TZ. For what it’s worth, the code for the manual found in the overseas and less powerful BMW Z4 sDrive20i happens to be GS6L40LZ, according to this SupraMKV forum post. Per BMW transmission designation rules, the difference between “L50T” and L40L” indicates a deviation in transmission “type” and gearset. The “GS6″ and “Z” bits of the codes indicate a six-speed manual and ZF as the manufacturer, respectively. For further reference, the manual found in the current M3 and M4 is designated GS6-45BZ.

Speaking of the shift knob, Toyota says ergonomics were a consideration too. Making space for a manual in a car that wasn’t originally offered with one can be a bit of a bear. Again, from the manufacturer’s release:

Close attention was also paid to how a manual shifter could be accommodated in the driver’s cockpit. The lever ratio was specifically set to minimize the effort required to make shifts and engage reverse gear. While the weight and shape of the 200g gear knob, along with the quality of shift engagement, have all been precisely defined. Ergonomics were also top-of-mind, as the console unit and position of the drive mode selector were adjusted to provide a 1.7-inch clearance between the shift knob and the control panel.

Toyota didn’t announce pricing for the manual Supra. That news will come this fall, shortly before 2023 models hit showrooms.

Here’s the catch: this six-speed will not be offered on the 2.0-liter four-cylinder Supra in any capacity. Honestly, I don’t know if a manual could have saved that car; I don’t know if anything could salvage the lesser Supra when the GR 86 and now the long-awaited GR Corolla also exist in Toyota’s lineup. My colleague Steve believes that nobody would bother to buy a 2.0 Supra with a manual against those options, and he’s probably right.

Image: Toyota

To me, a manual 3.0 makes the 2.0 Supra an even worse proposition than it already was, a car that lives in the shadow of its big sibling. Perhaps it exists merely as a base for modifications, but how many 2.0 owners are doing 2JZ swaps anyway? I’m all for a cheap entryway to performance — especially for those skilled enough to make up the difference with wrenching — but the 2.0 is only about $8,000 less than the 3.0, and this is Toyota’s flagship. It should be a competent sports car in all its variants.

Toyota will also offer a limited-edition Supra with the manual equipped, called A91-MT. Only 500 of these will be built, with the requisite gearbox and an exclusive cognac interior for North America. Regardless of which model Supra you order, if you spec yours with a stick shift, you’ll get a red badge on the back, so everyone knows you bought the best Supra — and, perhaps, to twist the knife a little when someone pulls up in an earlier, auto-only Supra.

Read original article here

Tyre Sampson, who died in fall from thrill ride in Orlando, may have been too heavy for the ride, operations manual shows

The teenager who died in a fall from an Orlando thrill ride Thursday night may have been too heavy for the ride, a 2021 manual from the manufacturer appears to indicate.

Tyre Sampson, 14, who was 6 feet, 5 inches tall and over 300 pounds, plummeted from his seat on the Orlando Free Fall ride, which is located at Icon Park along a busy street in the heart of Orlando’s tourist district.

Sampson was a middle school football player in the St. Louis area who dreamed of playing pro ball. His youth football coach, AJ Jones, told WKMG-TV that Sampson weighed 320 pounds at the time of his death.

An operations and maintenance manual seen by CBS News and prepared by the ride’s manufacturer, Funtime Handels GmbH, of Dölsach, Austria, says the maximum weight for passengers should be 130 kilograms, or 286 pounds.

A makeshift memorial for Tyre Sampson is viewed outside the Orlando Free Fall ride at the ICON Park entertainment complex, Sunday, March 27, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Sampson fell to his death while on the ride.

Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP


The manual also states: “Be careful when seeing if large guests fit into the seats. Check that they fit within the contours of the seat and the bracket fits properly. If this is not so — Do not let this person ride.”

An accident report filed after the incident says Sampson “came out of his seat” as the ride began to brake, but says the “harness was still in a down and locked position when the ride stopped,” CBS News correspondent Manuel Bojorquez reports.  

The 430-foot-tall ride, billed as the world’s tallest free-standing drop tower, is just 11 feet shorter than Orlando’s tallest building, the SunTrust building. It takes patrons up to that height, tilts the seats so they face the ground for a moment or two, and then plummets toward the ground at speeds of 75 mph or more.

The incident is being investigated by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) and Orange County Sheriff’s Office.  

“We hope the subsequent findings will be able to inform us all as to how this tragedy occurred and will precipitate any changes necessary to better protect patrons of amusement rides in Florida,” FDACS Commissioner Nikki Fried said in a statement.

Lawyers for Sampson’s family want to know if negligence about his size, or other factors, played a role.

“This young man, he was athletic and he was big. He had no way of knowing,” said Bob Hilliard, a Texas attorney who represents Tyre’s mother, Nekia Dodd, in an interview Saturday. “This is going to be an issue of a lack of supervision and lack of training. A straight-up negligence case.”

CBS News has reached out to Funtime Handels GmbH, Icon Park and the SlingShot Group, which operates the ride, for their responses.

Icon Park said in an earlier statement that it is fully cooperating with investigators and that the Orlando FreeFall ride will be closed indefinitely.

SlingShot Group said last week, “We are heartbroken with the incident that took the life of one of our guests. We extend our condolences and deepest sympathy to his family and friends.”

–The Associated Press contributed to this report

Read original article here

Latest Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G leaks include a nice price and a full manual

The 5G-enabled Galaxy S21 Fan Edition has probably been leaked more times (and more comprehensively) in the last couple of weeks alone than many past Android devices in the entire time preceding their official announcements, and believe it or not, we’re still not expecting Samsung to release this bad boy for another three weeks or so.

That gives prolific leakers like Evan Blass and Ishan Agarwal more than enough time to highlight and detail… every single tidbit that’s stopped being a secret a while ago, which is precisely what seems to be happening today for the umpteenth time in recent memory.
Of course, we’re not complaining here, as it’s always nice to get confirmation of key information like retail pricing and core specifications from multiple reliable sources well ahead of such a potentially successful handset’s commercial debut. It’s just that Samsung is seriously jeopardizing said success by continuing to hold off on the long overdue S21 FE 5G launch.

No price hike on the horizon after all

Given the relatively short list of significant upgrades and the almost non-existent design revisions tipped for the Galaxy S21 FE in comparison with its hugely popular predecessor, the biggest mistake Samsung could have made was a price increase.

That’s exactly what was rumored just a few days back, but at least in the UK, 91mobiles and Ishan Agarwal claim no changes will be made after all. More specifically, the S21 FE 5G is expected to match the £699 base price of its S20-series forerunner in an entry-level configuration pairing 6 gigs of RAM with 128GB storage space while fetching £749 in an 8GB memory variant also packing 256 gigs of local digital hoarding room.

That almost certainly means the cheapest Galaxy S21 FE 5G model in the US will set you back $699, with $769 (or maybe even just $749) buying you more RAM and internal storage space. 

While not quite excessive, that does sound… less than ideal for a Snapdragon 888 powerhouse that really should have seen daylight a long time ago, so we’re definitely expecting some sweet launch promotions to help this puppy sell like hotcakes until the similarly inexpensive “regular” Galaxy S22 5G makes its debut with a more advanced Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor on deck.

Even the full user manual is out already

Although there are obviously no S21 FE users around just yet, a complete 167-page (!!!) manual in English has been prematurely made public by the man, the legend Evan Blass (aka @evleaks), guiding prospective buyers through their future setup process while revealing a bunch of stuff that would have undoubtedly been juicy and surprising… about six or seven months back.

Some of the most interesting specs and tidbits reiterated in this hot new leak include a 32MP front-facing camera, a triple rear-facing shooter system composed of a primary 12MP imaging sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and an 8MP telephoto snapper, as well as things like IP68 water and dust resistance, in-display fingerprint recognition technology, and wireless power sharing functionality.

Sadly (but also very predictably), it is now fully etched in stone that the Galaxy S21 FE 5G will ship without a charger in the box, as well as without a good old fashioned headphone jack and microSD card slot. The freshly leaked user manual also discloses a flurry of largely familiar camera features and tools, like Scene optimizer, Single take, AR Doodle, Panorama, Pro video, Super slow-mo, Hyperlapse, and Dual recording.
Of course, the spec sheet as a whole looks eerily familiar, at least on paper, including a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120Hz refresh rate support, a 4,500mAh battery capable of 25W Super Fast wired charging and 15W Fast wireless charging, as well as 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9mm measurements that are… actually different from the S20 FE’s overall dimensions. 
You’re looking at a shorter and thinner device right around the corner here, but that and a processing power jump from Snapdragon 865 to 888 might not be enough to warrant the existence of the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition after all this time, all these leaks, and all those rumored delays.



Read original article here

Apple Is Rolling Out a Manual Firmware Updater for AirPods

Photo: Stephen Lam (Getty Images)

As many AirPod owners probably know, Apple’s wireless headphones, while undoubtedly good devices, can have problems just like any other piece of technology. When it comes to issues with firmware, though, the devices can be a bit of a pain to fix given that there’s no manual way to update them. That’s set to change early next week.

In a Twitter post on Friday, leaker Stella Fudge revealed that Apple was releasing an AirPods firmware updater tool in a bid to help resolve specific problems with the devices. AirPods that are in their charging cases and connected to a power source are supposed to download the latest firmware promptly when it’s available, but that doesn’t always happen. The firmware updater was later confirmed by MacRumors, which obtained an internal Apple memo describing the tool.

Don’t get too excited. This doesn’t mean you’ll have a readily available tool to fix your AirPods at home when they malfunction because of a firmware issue.

According to Stella Fudge and MacRumors, the tool will only be rolling out to Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers. It will not be available to users and there is no indication that Apple will change its mind about that at this time. The outlet stated that the firmware updater will become available to stores and providers beginning early next week.

So, what problems will the firmware updater be used for? MacRumors explains that technicians will be able force the devices to download the latest firmware to try to resolve certain issues, such as if one of a user’s AirPods didn’t update correctly. They will also be able to help AirPod users that don’t use Apple devices who are experiencing problems, as well as users that received a replacement AirPod Pro or charging case with a different firmware version than the one in their possession.

It’s currently unclear what AirPod models Apple’s new firmware updater tool can be used with. MacRumors reports that technicians can use it on AirPods Pro with a wireless charging case or MagSafe charging case, but whether it can be used with other models is an open question. I guess we’ll find out soon.



Read original article here

An Apple II manual signed by Steve Jobs just sold for nearly $800,000

Boston-based RR Auction on Thursday sold an Apple II manual signed by the company’s late co-founder Steve Jobs for a whopping $787,484.

The computer’s 196-page manual is signed and inscribed opposite the Table of Contents: “Julian, Your generation is the first to grow up with computers. Go change the world! steven jobs, 1980.”

It’s also signed by Mike Markkula, an early investor in Apple and the company’s second CEO.

The manual was signed while Jobs and Markkula were in the United Kingdom promoting Apple, RR Auction said in a statement announcing the sale. The recipient was Julian Brewer, the son of an entrepreneur who worked with Apple to distribute their products in the UK.

“I was sitting in my bedroom writing games on my Apple II when Dad called me down to meet some guests,” Brewer said. “To my amazement it was Steve Jobs and Mike Markkula. I had the manual with me and only later understood how rare it was for Jobs to sign anything, let alone to write an inscription like this. He got on well with Dad, so I feel the inscription was made with care.”

Launched in 1977, the Apple II was the company’s first successful product and is generally regarded as one of the first computers made for the mass market. The first computer spreadsheet, VisiCalc, was written for the Apple II in 1979 and expanded the computer’s popularity to the business market.

“Whereas the Apple I was primarily for hobbyists, with less than 200 units made, the Apple II truly ‘changed the world’ by giving around 6 million homes and businesses their first taste of personal computing. Apple II’s revenues supported Apple’s successful floatation, the biggest tech IPO of the time,” RR Auction said.

Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts, placed the winning bid for the manual.

“When we think of the greatest, most innovative minds of the past two centuries, Steve Jobs must certainly be included among them,” Irsay said in a statement provided to the auction house. “Jobs was a truly transformative figure who changed the way in which human beings think, do business and interact on a daily basis.”

RR Auction also sold other items related to Jobs and Apple, including a signed letter from Jobs in which he ironically states: “I’m afraid I don’t sign autographs.”

It sold for $479,939.

Read original article here

The Ultimate News Site