‘Broke’ Jobs had no phone

THE mastermind of the iPhone, Steve Jobs, did not even own a phone at all when he dropped out of college and was searching for a paying gig.

An employment application filled out in 1973 by the future Apple guru just sold for $174,757 through Boston-based RR Auction. The buyer was an anonymous “Internet entrepreneur from London.”

The questionnaire, signed by then 18-year-old Jobs — who had enrolled at Oregon’s Reed College in 1972, but dropped out after six months to save his parents’ money — reveals that when the form asked for “Phone,” Jobs wrote, “None.” His address simply said, “Reed College.” And though he indicated to the potential employer that he had a driver’s license, next to “Access to Transportation?” Jobs replied, “possible, but not probable.”

The filled-out form has no company name or logo. In 1974, Jobs later put his technical skills to work as a technician at Atari, relying on the help of future partner Steve Wozniak. They cofounded Apple in 1976.

Under “Special Abilities,” Jobs wrote: “electronics tech or design engineer. digital. — from Bay near Hewitt-Packard [sic].” Though he’d dropped out, Jobs apparently hung around the Reed campus for a year and a half to audit creative courses on topics from Shakespeare to dance and calligraphy.

Also up for auction was an Apple Mac OS X technical manual signed by Jobs in 2001 that sold for $41,806. The object was rare since, “Jobs was a famously reluctant autograph giver,” the auction house’s Bobby Livingston told us.

He added that there is a current trend of startup moguls snapping up science and tech artifacts and memorabilia. “These are people who grew up on Apple products early and have gone on to their own tech businesses,” he said. “They’re people who are now in their 30s or 40s who start to collect. The next wave of collecting is moving into computer science and rocketry,” such as NASA items. Formerly hot areas at such auctions were for items belonging to stars like Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe.