APPRAISING LISA + OTHER LEGACY COMPUTERS

The original Apple Lisa computer from 1981-1983 is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. These are now popular not just for their novelty and computing power, but also as a culture touchstone.

People collect these and restore them somewhat like how people collect and restore classic cars. Many people collect legacy computers as objects of art. If J Paul Getty were still alive, he might be one of these art collectors.  After all, the Lisa was designed partly as a practical-use device, but also with an artistic aesthetic.

If you have a Lisa computer or other legacy computing device, and want to know its true authentic value, please contact us as shown below and elsewhere herein.

Lisa 1 models might sell for as high as $50,000. However, there are very few of these that have not already been purchased by collectors. Later Lisa 2/10 models might sell for around $2K-$4K. Non-working machines or just internal components could still be worth a few hundred dollars.

One problem with appraising value of a Lisa occurs where various features were restored or repaired and not part of original manufacture. This results in mis-estimates in both directions, partly because a person wanting an actual functional working usage for a Lisa might actually prefer some portions were restored or aftermarket add-ons. The original Lisas after all, were sometimes shipped with less than stellar quality assurance and error-checking.

Use of Lisa as low-volume standalone Web Server
There are numerous instances of people using the 1981-83 Lisa devices as a web-server. This involves using the Lisa's capabilities to serve a very limited set of static HTML files. Doing so would be a historical demonstration rather than a practical web server. Also, such a web server has decreased likelihood of being hacked.

Palmer Luckey of Anduril insists that "the Future is Retro", and has even written a Retro Manifesto. Palmer Luckey is now a very successful product developer for the US military, self-educated, and insists that his best developing experience was in refurbishing legacy computers, starting when he was 13 years old.

These are just a few of the reasons why legacy computing devices such as the Apple Lisa, and many others, are now experiencing a resurgence in popularity.

Again, if you have a Lisa computer or other legacy computing device, and want to know its true authentic value, please contact us as shown below and elsewhere herein.