Testing interest in NFTs vs. physical collectibles with Apple founder’s 50-year-old job application

Published at: July 21, 2021

A crypto entrepreneur is planning to gauge whether interest in a collectible from deceased Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is directed more towards the digital space or the physical world.

In an announcement today, Winthorpe Ventures’ Olly Joshi said software company Snoofa would be auctioning off a 1973 job application from Jobs before he joined video game company Atari as a technician. At the same time, digital marketplace Rarible will be auctioning a tokenized version of the paperwork to test which version — a nonfungible token, NFT, or the real thing — will attract more bidders, higher bids, and at what rate.

Joshi said he aimed for the auction to provide a window into the perceived value of collectibles, whether they be physical or digital. Bidders will have the option of purchasing the physical application in Ether (ETH) or fiat, while only crypto payments will be accepted for the NFT.

“Testing this with a piece of history from arguably the most influential tech entrepreneur of our time, is very special,” said Joshi. “Will this open a whole new market for decentralized collectibles, or will we see a world in which both can coexist?”

He added:

“We believe this will be a massive proof point for NFTs and their role in culture.”

The physical application shows the young Jobs — a teenager at the time — had no previous work experience, but listed skills in computers, calculators, design and tech. Jobs would go on to work for Atari before founding Apple Computers with his friend Steve Wozniak in 1976. The paper previously sold for $224,750 at an auction in London in March, a roughly 1,100% increase over a $18,750 bid at a New York auction in 2017.

Both auctions went live at 9:41 AM PST today, an homage to the time featured on many Apple products during a launch, designed to coincide when Jobs would make major announcements. He debuted the original iPhone to the public at exactly 9:41 AM on Jan. 9, 2007 at the Macworld convention.

”This unique auction format will truly test where value lies,” said Rarible co-founder Alexander Salnikov. “Coming from a tech background, obviously I'm fighting on the NFT side. May the best Jobs application win!”

According to Joshi, a percentage of the final profits from both auctions will be donated to the Cancer Research Institute and One Laptop Per Child.