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$19.99? $50.00? $100.00? That's the question I asked myself as I debated whether to finally put the first computer I ever purchased—an Apple IIGS from 1989—up on ebay. Although I'd be sad to see it go (thereby losing my ability to play Gnarly Golf), my recent move and the fact that I'm staring down two mortgages finally prompted me to see what I could get. Imagine my shock this morning to learn that, with one day left to go in the auction, the high bid had skyrocketed from $71.00 to $241.38 overnight.

At first, that seems to be as absurd as a notion can get...$241.38 for a computer that is not only nearly 20 years old, but that is—for all intents and purposes—fairly useless in the modern computing world. The buyer will get a lot of functional software and games that will remain fun to play, but he won't get photo and video editing. He won't get broadband Internet access. He'll barely even get a hard drive (16MB! 1278K RAM!). What he will be getting is nostalgia, and that says something about Apple that many people miss.

It's no secret that the resale value of Macintosh computers is significantly higher than that of PCs. Because PCs are so cheap, those looking for low prices don't have to consider used systems. But with Macs, the higher costs often drive people to systems that are two or three years old. They're still able to run the latest OS and much of the software, just perhaps not as quickly. At the office where I work, we upgrade our Macs once every three years. Considering that we always buy the highest end iMac available at the time, my PC using boss is still surprised when we get an average of $600 to $700 for the three-year-old systems as a trade-in value from PowerMax. Suddenly, that $1,800 computer purchase is closer to $1,000, and that should be something people consider when debating the switch to the Mac.

But that doesn't explain nearly $250 for an Apple IIGS. The only reason anyone would put up that kind of money would be that a.) he's completely insane, b.) he has to spend $30 million dollars in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million (look it up), or c.) he's an Apple computer lover who either collects vintage machines or just really wants to finish that last level of Silpheed.

Does this sort of thing happen on the PC? I can't say for sure, but I imagine you'd be hard pressed to find a 20-year-old PC getting $250 on ebay unless it's some sort of special edition (and bear in mind, my Apple IIGS is not the Wozniak Edition, unfortunately). Because PCs come from so many differnet manufacturers and are, by and large, without personality, there'd be no reason to spend that kind of cash. The Apple IIGS, however, doesn't feel like it's just an old computer. It feels like a part of history, like a key player on a team we've been following since childhood. I'll liken it to something else that's dear to me; the Apple IIGS is to the Apple pantheon what Kenny Easley or Jim Zorn are to my beloved Seattle Seahawks. Although no longer a part of the team, fans who were around at the time still look back with respect and fondness. Would I pay $250 for an authentic Zorn or Easley jersey? Of course not. I don't make the kind of money to justify such a purchase. But do I understand why a person would? You bet I do, and I salute you, good sir!

The auction has a little less than a day to go, and I'll report back on the final sale, hopefully with some comments from the buyer. Then I'll move on to other Apple auctions. I certainly won't get this kind of interest out of an indigo iMac, a 9600, a Quadra or an LC II, but our own Joe Ryan is considering throwing his PowerBook 1400 into the experiment, and I think that auction will prove interesting.

I'll be sad to see that IIGS go. Things like this hold a lot of memories, after all. I wrote my first novel and play on that system, I passed many good hours playing games on that system, and somewhere on the hard drive is the letter that my friend, Emily, and I wrote to Penthouse Forums. I wonder if they ever published it? If any of you out there have Penthouse issues from 1991 lying around, look for our letter. It's the one that starts out, "Dear Penthouse, I never thought that this would happen to me ... "

Regardless, I suppose I should delete that letter before I mail the system to its new owner. Or, maybe charge him more. Either way, I hope he'll treat the Apple IIGS well and get more use out of it than I have as of late.

For $250, I imagine he will.

• Apple IIGS ebay auction