As a child of the 1980s, my heroes included more than just athletes and movie stars. I was in awe of the business titans whose technological wizardry was changing my world.
I distinctly remember the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII in 1984 and being mesmerized by a commercial featuring a heroine hurling a sledge hammer toward a giant screen picturing "Big Brother." This was followed by the unforgettable voiceover: "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce Macintosh, and you'll see why 1984 won't be like 1984."
I also remember reading about the groundbreaking ad in the newpaper, and about Apple's young CEO named Steve Jobs. “That guy is the owner of Apple Computers?” I thought. It seemed impossible, but that's what heroes do, the seemingly impossible.
Four decades on, these nostalgic memories translated into a desire to collect items featuring Jobs and my other tech heroes, including Nolan Bushnell, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Jeff Bezos, Jack Ma, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. However, I quickly became frustrated by the lack of related memorabilia.
Sealed hardware (iPods, iPhones, etc.) is cool as hell and very collectible, but it doesn't really appeal to me as a collector. I’m more of a paper guy, a trading card guy, and that's where I began to formulate the idea of searching for "rookie-era" magazine covers. Early or pre-fame time capsules featuring the most well-known business and technology personalities of our time.
Why magazines? Magazines by their nature are ephemeral, you read them, and then most likely they get tossed out when the next one arrives.
Magazines covers are graphically captivating and designed to be so, making them great objects to display.
Condition is always an issue as many are shipped through the mail, have subscription labels (which are often torn off), and generally get banged up.
So you have rarity, aesthetics and condition. In other words, the formula for a great collectible.
While certain magazines are very prevalent such as Time or Newsweek, I soon began to realize some of the most important periodicals of this genre were much more obscure and difficult to acquire. Having searched for several years, their discovery was both gratifying and fun.
This pursuit is still the collectible Wild West, and the thrill of the hunt is very much in play.
Here are some of the rarest and most significant.
Popular Electronics, January 1975
You can't talk about tech-related magazines without this colossus. The Altair 8800, the first commercially available minicomputer is featured on its cover, and it is not an exaggeration to say this is the most important tech magazine of the past 50 years.
This was the issue that launched the Homebrew Computer Club in Menlo Park, California, which Jobs and Wozniak attended only a couple months later. Shortly afterward, the pair began work on the Apple I.
It’s also the magazine Paul Allen excitedly brought to his friend Gates’ Harvard dorm room, exclaiming, “This is happening without us!” and in so doing prompted the birth of Microsoft.
It doesn't get much more important historically than this. This magazine is rare, but occasionally shows up, and condition is always a factor.
As of today, there are only two examples in the CGC Census.
Inc., October 1981
By 1981, Apple was the darling of Wall Street and was fast becoming one of the hottest companies of the era. But its young co-founder and CEO had yet to find himself on the cover of a magazine. That all changed with the October issue of Inc., The Magazine for Growing Companies.
Posed with an Apple II, the 26-year-old Jobs — sans tie with blue jeans and a corduroy jacket — stood next to the headline “This Man Has Changed Business Forever.” A prescient statement if ever there was one. This was not the Jobs we are used to seeing. This was the whippet thin, bearded Jobs whose relentless pursuit of perfection and innovation helped create the contemporary culture of Silicon Valley.
This magazine is nearly impossible to find. In well over a decade of searching, I’ve seen less than a handful, including some in private institutions. It is without question the most prized of all tech debut covers.
As of today, there is only one example of this “insanely great” magazine in the CGC Census.
MACWORLD #1, 1984
If there is an iconic Tech magazine cover, it has to be MACWORLD #1, which was launched at the debut of the Macintosh Computer in January 1984. Picturing Jobs in all his glory, flanked by three Macs and the headline “Macintosh, The Future of Personal Computing?”, it screams the 1980s.
Not a very difficult magazine to find, but it is scarce, particularly in good shape. A classic addition to any tech collection both for its aesthetic appeal and historical significance.
FORTUNE, Aug. 5, 1985
One of my personal favorites of the early Jobs magazine covers. While FORTUNE chronicled him many times over the years, this is certainly the most somber. The headline “The Fall of Steve Jobs” coincides with his infamous resignation from Apple in 1985, a devastating time in Jobs’ life as well as the company he founded.
On the bright side, “The Fall” would be short lived as Jobs would soon found his next company … NeXT, and within a year purchased another company called The Graphics Group (later renamed PIXAR). All this would lead to Jobs returning to Apple in 1997 in what is generally regarded as the greatest second act in business history.
FORTUNE magazines are fairly scarce, particularly early tech-related issues. They are larger than the average magazine which makes them susceptible to condition issues. They do make exceptional displays and really capture the essence of their time.
FUTUREDEX, March, 2003
Love him or hate him, Musk has changed the world and in the process become one of the most collected tech personalities. This incredibly obscure publication deemed FUTUREDEX, The Magazine for Private Capital Investors, didn't last long, but was visionary enough to feature the 31-year-old Elon Musk with a toy rocket and the headline “Rocket Man: Paypal Co-Founder Now Banks On Space."
This is Musk’s true “rookie” magazine cover, the first of many covers he would appear on over the next 20 years. Exceptionally rare, there are less than a handful known.
Inc., December, 2007
Inc. certainly has a knack for prognostication. After featuring Jobs on its cover 26 years earlier, the magazine proudly proclaimed Musk “Entrepreneur of the Year, Co-founded PayPal. Building the coolest car ever. Ready to colonize Mars.”
Another modern magazine rarity. Who could have possibly known back in 2007 that the smiling young man on the cover of this magazine would go on to become the richest man on earth (and possibly Mars)? To date, there are only four examples of this periodical in the CGC Census.
It's important to note these represent some of the rarest tech magazines extant, including “debut” covers. Exceptional condition however, can elevate even the most popular and prevalent periodicals such as Time and Newsweek, to stratospheric levels of desirability.
Simeon Lipman is a lifelong collector, an obtainer of rare antiquities, a trading-card producer and a pop culture and sports appraiser on PBS’s "Antiques Roadshow" since 1997.