A forged eBay listing of an alleged pass for employee #10, together with a hand-drawn map of Apple’s first campus, seemed superficially convincing, until some started questioning a few of the details. The question of its authenticity was then resolved by a man who really ought to know …
The listing has now been removed by eBay, but this is the internet, so of course it was captured for posterity.
Apple engineering manager Eric Vitiello spotted it, and posted the link on Mastadon, commenting “Ooh, neat auction.”
Panic founder Cabel Sasser engaged in some back-and-forth with the seller, who insisted it was real. But things came to a screeching halt when Chris Espinosa – aka employee #8 – declared that it was fake.
Espinosa joined Apple as a BASIC programmer at the tender age of 14, and with one brief hiatus aside, has been there ever since. He said that both the pass and drawing are fake.
He could claim particular expertise on the map, since it was claimed to have been drawn by him! He said that it wasn’t, and he could state this with certainty because he always used a specific type of notepad, and that wasn’t it.
But he also pointed out no fewer than four problems with the forged pass:
- That’s not Sherry Livingston
- That wasn’t taken with a Polaroid with a flash
- The laminate dimensions are all wrong
- That’s a computer font, not an IBM Selectric Orator type ball
Despite this, when Sasser engaged with the seller, the forger continued to insist it was real. He produced a claimed receipt for a purchase from the German Red Cross. Sasser spotted several issues with this, but double-checked by asking the internet – with Germans pointing out errors which meant the invoice was also faked.
When called on it, the seller panicked and gave a completely different story about having bought the items on eBay.
Sadly, by the time all this came to light, the auction had completed and someone had wasted $946 on buying it. However, since eBay has since removed the listing, it seems likely they have been refunded.
We’d echo Sasser’s advice here:
- Beware of fraudulent pieces of Apple history
- Don’t buy anything from this particular seller
- When in doubt, Engage The Internet®
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