I see a lot of interest in this Zaltair brochure and it has been reported that no good images of the back of brochure are available on the web so here are just the images. You can see the story about the Zaltair computer here "CLICK"
The Zaltair computer was not a real computer but a prank that Steve Wozniak and some of his friends made up and secretly distributed at the First West Coast Computer Faire April 15-17, 1977.
I am fortunate to have an original of the Zaltair brochure. I received this brochure from Adam Schoolsky as part of a package of material with the Apple 1 computer purchased from Adam in 1995. Adam helped Wozniak with this prank. The brochure was a prank using the most popular computer on the market - the "Altair 8800" microcomputer sold by MITS, Ed Roberts company. See the comment below blog for additional information.
Enlarge the photo's by clicking on them and then even
more by a right click and select "View image".
Zaltair brochure Front
Zaltair brochure Back
It is reported that this may be the only backside image of the Zaltair brochure on the the internet.
Much of this information I obtained from Steve Wozniak's book "iWoz"
Wozniak book
"Zaltair
Computer" A really great practical joke that Steve Wozniak (
designer of the Apple 1 Microcomputer ) pulled of at the First West
Coast Computer Faire in April 1977. Steve says in his book "IWoz" that
he likes to do practical jokes and have someone else get blamed for
doing the joke. In the case of the Zaltair he did a very good job and
did not get accused of being the originator of the joke in fact Gary
Ingram at Processor Technology was the one accursed of doing the hoax.
The hoax was directed toward the Ed Roberts and his Mitts Altair 8800
microcomputer.
Steve called his friend Adam Schoolsky to come help
with this hoax. Adam and Steve created the Zaltair handout and printed
8,000 or more of them for $400. They called in Chris Espinoza and Randy
Wiggington -- a couple of teenage friends to help distribute the
brochure. Steve told them all that no matter what, they could not admit
the hoax to any one.
They started by putting a good number of them
out on a table where many vendors were displaying literature. It was
discovered that they disappeared very fast so they watched and saw a
representative from the Mitts Altair Company was taking them all. It
was clear a much more secret way to put them out would be needed. At
this point they started to carry them around under their coat and put a
few here and there usually putting them a few down in someone else's
stack of literature. When Steve Jobs first saw the Zaltair brochure he
thought it was real and made the comment that the Apple 2 did not look
to bad compared to the other computers. Apple 1 designer Steve Wozniak.
It
was a number of years later that Steve Wozniak admitted to Steve Jobs
and Mike Scott that he was the one responsible for the Zaltair hoax.
They had a good laugh about the whole thing.
I really enjoyed
the book "iWoz" and liked the idea that Steve always looked out for
folks he was friends with or worked with -- like selling some of his
stock to about 40 engineers at Apple for a price he new would make them a
lot of money when the company went public. He also gave a reported
million dollars to several friends who had helped him in the early days
of Apple but were not in on the good buy like the engineers at Apple.
This material is based on information from Steve Wozniak,s book "iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It"
This blog has been fun to write and brings back some good memories of my collection and being able to obtain several Apple 1 computers in the 90's. I am always amazed at just what I will find when I look at 40 years of computer collecting in the museum warehouse inventory . Looking for a letter and response I sent to Soviet President Gorbachev in 1990 I spotted a Volksmodem made by Anchor Automation in the late 70's. It is mint and in original box never used - WOW the good old day's of 300 Baud data rates.
The First West Coast Computer FAIRE in 1977 was probably the real start of the personal computer industry. The FAIRE created a tremendous interest in microcomputers with over 12,000 folks attending . A number of first in the industry took place at this FAIRE.
I am fortunate to have some great items from Adam Schoolsky who was at this FAIRE with Steve Wozniak and the Apple group View/Read all 48 pages of program listing of Events and Companies 'CLICK' The
program is fascinating to look at and see what the cyber world of
microcomputers was in 1977 - look at some memory prices (4 KB for $1298)
that would be more then $3000 in todays $. This is a PDF file of the
Computer FAIRE program in our collection and it is in mint condition.
Adam Schoolsky attended the 1977 FAIRE and was working with Steve Wozniak. Steve like to play jokes so cooked up the idea to introduce great computer - The Zaltair computer and compare it to the Apple 2 and other current computers. The Zaltair only existed on paper in a spoof brochure that Adam Schoolsky and Wozniak created and secretly distributed during the Faire. I will do a whole blog about the Zaltair joke that Wozniak played on Steve Jobs.
Adam Schoolsky was a friend of Wozniak and during this time Adam told me Wozniak gave him an Apple 1 computer. Adam had this computer for about 18 years and in 1994 he contacted me about selling this Apple 1 to me. Adam and I reached an agreement and in January 1995 I completed the purchase. This Apple 1 ( Which we call the "Schoolsky computer" because Adam Schoolsky was the first owner) is in our 'Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum' Along with many other items Adam provided with the computer.
You can see this Apple 1 Computer, The Zaltair Spoof computer brochure and the other items Adam provided from the "First West Coast Computer FAIRE" with the purchase of his Apple 1 in this Video. These items are a real important part of our museum collection and we are grateful to Adam for this all these near mint condition.
The introduction of the Apple 2 by Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs at this FAIRE had more impact over the years then any other exhibitor. The Apple Company is now the largest stock valued company in the world.
The FAIRE was organized by Jim Warren and Bob Reiling. 'The First West Coast Computer FAIRE' was a big success. In 1983 Jim sold the FAIRE to Prentice Hall for a reported $3 million. The FAIRE changed hands one more time and the last FAIRE was produced in 1991 .
Gaynell and I are leaving this Saturday for a visit with my brother Howard in Missouri for a few days. We had some terrible wind and rain this afternoon in our little town of Floyd Virginia and it knocked out the power. I had power at home so being home early I was able to do this blog post. Have a great weekend . Update 8-28-13 We had good visit with my 92 year old brother.
I see a lot of interest in this Zaltair brochure and it has been reported that no good images of the back of brochure are available on the web so here are just the images. You can see the story about the Zaltair computer here "CLICK"
The First West Coast Computer FAIRE in 1977 was probably the real start of the personal computer industry. The FAIRE created a tremendous interest in microcomputers with over 12,000 folks attending . A number of first in the industry took place at this FAIRE. 
The
program is fascinating to look at and see what the cyber world of
microcomputers was in 1977 - look at some memory prices (4 KB for $1298)
that would be more then $3000 in todays $. This is a PDF file of the
Computer FAIRE program in our collection and it is in mint condition.
Adam Schoolsky was a friend of Wozniak and during this time Adam told me Wozniak gave him an Apple 1 computer. Adam had this computer for about 18 years and in 1994 he contacted me about selling this Apple 1 to me. Adam and I reached an agreement and in January 1995 I completed the purchase. This Apple 1 ( Which we call the "Schoolsky computer" because Adam Schoolsky was the first owner) is in our 'Bugbook Historical Microcomputer Museum' Along with many other items Adam provided with the computer.
Gaynell and I are leaving this Saturday for a visit with my brother Howard in Missouri for a few days. We had some terrible wind and rain this afternoon in our little town of Floyd Virginia and it knocked out the power. I had power at home so being home early I was able to do this blog post. Have a great weekend . Update 8-28-13 We had good visit with my 92 year old brother.