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Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
Psystar Owes Apple $75k For Some Reason
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Kaiser-Machead
07/02/09

In reply to Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
Again, how much of a difference would it make if Psystar simply didn't preload the OS, but offered the discs? There's nothing Apple can do about anyone actually selling sealed authentic copies of OS X.
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ester
07/02/09

@Kaiser-Machead: I think Apple would have an argument if Psystar is not an authorized reseller. Copyright law does provide for control over distribution and for Psystar to buy authentic copies and sell them would appear to be a violation to me. What Psystar should do is provide all the hardware and installation instructions but have customers buy the software directly from Apple. Then I'm not sure how copyright could even come into the picture.
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itchytooth
07/02/09

@ester: This is what Newegg does, except you have to go to a whole 'nother website for the instructions.
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deanbmmv
07/02/09

In reply to Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
I still don't get why it has never struck Apple that Pystars existence may be because people want OSX but not a Mac?

MS sell their OS separately, and pretty much have a huge company based just off software, yet Apple tie the software to a single PC manufacturer and on top of that have iPhones,iPods,iTune n the money of iLife/iWorks n OSX upgrades yet are still nowhere near as big as MS. So maybe if they want a bit more muchos they might wanna you know sell OSX on its own?
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ester
07/02/09

@deanbmmv: People often point out that Apple tried it. But they tried it with an inferior operating system (at the time) and poor execution. Are these people implying Apple is the same as it was then? That's rhetorical for those prepping to rip me a new one.

The fact there are hackintoshes proves there is a market. Psystar is attempting to take advantage of that market and I don't understand why there is such a backlash outside of fanatical fanboyism.

The reason Apple doesn't license their OS is three fold. One, OSX provides for differentiation among their offering of computers and they can market this as advantage over the competition. Two, Steve has often thrown out the quote that people who care about software make their own hardware and Apple wants the Mac experience to be the same regardless of which Mac you are using. If they allow Dell or HP to install OSX, they lose some control over that and it opens them up to criticism. And three, they likely subsidize their software development with hardware sales and would not create the same kind of revenue selling just the software.

Keep in mind as a hardware manufacturer, Apple's real competition is Dell, HP, etc. Microsoft is just a common component of their competitors that they can easily attack in the ads. So they'd be helping out the competition by letting them use OSX.
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Falsoman
07/02/09

@ester: Exactly. And there's also the fact that even if there's a market doesn't mean it's worth it.

Having more clients for the sake of having more clients doesn't mean jack if they don't really represent more money in the long run.

I don't think apple wants to enter a market that is wanting to spend 130 bucks every 2 years, who doesn't want to buy their other products and a market that will represent them a lot more money spent into R&D to support thousands of hardware configurations.

Apple sells as a premium brand that gives you the "whole experience" and a brand that already has an incredibly profitable business, wich is still growing and has a lot of loyal customers. I'm sure that if this business model ever stops growing, they'll try something else, until then...
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frigg
07/02/09

In reply to Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
Eh, anyone else find it weird that the new computer comes loaded with Thriller, Off The Wall, Bad, Dangerous, and HIStory, and according to Psystar's website, can do the moonwalk?
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GitEmSteveDave_HazEnvy
07/02/09

In reply to Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
Maybe b/c they dumped the "mac" part of their name, they are OK? Perhaps they saw "Double Jeopardy" w/Ashley Judd on their Netflix feed, and got a brilliant idea?
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Vroomtrap
07/02/09

In reply to Psystar Emerges From Bankruptcy With New Product, Same Insane Resolve
They need to give some pointers to GM and Chrysler on how emerge from bankruptcy quickly.
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qbrad
07/02/09

@Vroomtrap: Don't hire lazy, uninspired, uneducated Americans to assemble your product.

Don't hire lazy, uninspired dregs from other companies to design your product.

Oh, and certainly don't hire uninspired, greedy, obtuse executives to point your company in a positive direction.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
06/11/09

In reply to Psystar Owes Apple $75k For Some Reason
I'm OK with a person going out and hacking up their laptop to run MacOS. I kind of admire it. But, at least (hopefully) the person purchased a copy of Mac OSX.

Psystar was building machines as a business model that were designed to undercut Apple. Not quite the same as the lonely basement guy goofing around.

Plus, if they had won, it would have some pretty strange repercussions in the IP world when it came to EULAs being enforceable.
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deanbmmv
06/11/09

In reply to Psystar Owes Apple $75k For Some Reason
I still don't understand why Apple don't allow clones?
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Kaiser-Machead
06/11/09

@deanbmmv: Apple doesn't allow clones because its business depends largely on profits earned from its hardware, not its software. It can't afford to pull a Microsoft on its current model, and would probably see bankruptcy in a sea of clones.
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Kaiser-Machead
06/11/09

In reply to Psystar Owes Apple $75k For Some Reason
Samifumi hit the nail right on the head, and Psystar had a little too much confidence and tried a little too hard to make its experiment fly. If they had any sense, they would've just provided all of the necessary components to hackintosh, without actually making a hackintosh.
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Samifumi
06/11/09

In reply to Psystar Owes Apple $75k For Some Reason
They had a good idea, and solid legal ground to fight a good battle with Apple, if they didnt pre-install the Mac OS onto the machine.
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jerNELS
06/11/09

@Samifumi: so would it be possible to run a company that sells computers that don't come pre-installed with mac os, but are designed to be easily hackintoshable? particularly netbooks and desktops? because i think you have a pretty nice market there... just saying. and would that be illegal? i'm pretty sure it wouldn't just ship with linux or nothing, who cares?
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Samifumi
06/11/09

@jnelson2525: Yes, the argument would be that you did not commit copyright infringement in the circumstance you were building computers that gave consumers a choice to install whichever computer OS they preferred. The only way Apple could have pursued PsyStar would be through the tenuous secondary liability theory, and even in that circumstance they could argue that they simply were providing consumers the ability to exercise the fair use doctrine, installing the OS they paid $100 for a license.
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Hello Mister Walrus
06/11/09

@Samifumi: The thing is, even if Psystar would have eventually been legally entitled to sell Hackintoshes, there's no way they would have the resources to survive a long, expensive legal battle with Apple. Apple has had lawsuits that lasted for more than ten years.
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DennyCrane
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
sadtrombone.com
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frigg
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
Psystar has always been about selling a legal theory rather than selling computers. They're a bunch of lawyers who hired some geeks, not a bunch of geeks who hired some lawyers.

This has always been about testing Apple's EULA, and trying to generate some kind of payday out of it.
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Kaiser-Machead
05/26/09

@frigg: Yep.
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VanniGreene
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
Hey, you wanna talk about pilfering from free software projects, look to Apple before Psystar!
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Kaiser-Machead
05/26/09

@VanniGreene: Example?
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LindsayJoy's MBP is into S+M
05/26/09

@VanniGreene:

Are you referring to Xerox? Because Xerox, at the time, did not intend to put their GUI into production.

If they were intending to make PCs with a GUI that would have been a whole other matter.
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Mac the Tard
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
I love that they have a super massive printer port.
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Nick
05/26/09

@bleuray vs. honeydijondvd: parallel port
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brainjuice
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
People buy Macs for the status symbol first and functionality second.

Was a stupid business model to begin with.
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Lite: hates Illinois Nazis
05/26/09

@brainjuice: Actually, I care about functionality first, status second. I just find Apple's UI and hardware designs more appealing.
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Kaiser-Machead
05/26/09

@brainjuice: You're a bit off base, however this does point towards a notable aspect of Mac consumers on the whole. The aesthetic qualities and brand appeal matter, even if people are offended by how shallow these things may appear. I like Macs partly because I think they're some of the best looking computers out there, both hardware-wise and on the software end. However, if it didn't run with a level of functionality that I found satisfactory, all the pretty glitter and clean cues count less and less, to the point where I'd just settle for something that doesn't appeal as much visually, but functions better.

These Psystar systems provide no real brand appeal, no real aesthetic interest, save for the OS, and on a functional level, they have no real track record, again, save for the OS, which is now under question because of the unsure hardware.
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pettiblay
05/26/09

@brainjuice: I know a LOT of people that knew all about the status symbol of the Mac and never bought one until I showed them how practical and intuitive they were. That made some people switch, even though they knew all about the status symbol as you say.
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shorty63136
05/26/09

@pettiblay: Ditto - I've got at least 10 converts under my belt based on UI/OS alone.

Plus - I work in advertising. Macs rule our world.
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Voyou_Charmant
05/26/09

@Kaiser-Machead: I'm on the other side of this, I would like to have a machine running Mac OS, but the price will never justify the pretty packaging.

I could care less about "brand appeal."
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Segador
05/26/09

@brainjuice: First, allow me to say that I don't care how people spend their money- it's theirs, and they can do whatever they want with it. Second, allow me to to agree with you. There are a class of people who buy Macs because they truly like the UI and system, specs be damned. There's also the larger, second group of people who buy them because they *tend* to represent a free-thinking, intelligent, wealthy, and trendy lifestyle. A Patagonia fleece and $5 latte lifestyle, if you will. This image is carefully maintained and cultivated by well-paid marketing firms in Cupertino, and Apple's done extremely well with it. Mac makes great computers- no one's going to deny that. For me, the comparative performance just doesn't justify the 25-50% markup over similar PCs. If it does for you, great.
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Nick
05/26/09

@Segador: thank God i wear North Face and drink the free coffee with a free tank of gas.

* phew *
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Nick
05/26/09

@does the aero shake_Nick: * poop, i meant 'full' tank. 'free' tank would be stellar, though.
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ThaKoolAidKid
05/26/09

In reply to Psystar Files for Bankruptcy
Maybe it's Ballmer.
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Nintenboy01
05/26/09

@ThaKoolAidKid: Doesn't make sense - why would he want MORE OS X-equipped systems out there?
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Kaiser-Machead
05/26/09

@Nintenboy01: Ballmer funds clones, then clones gain traction, Apple tries to squish the clones, clones start selling, piracy of OS X increases, OS X becomes more popular, but also falls subject to the hodgepodge of hit, near miss or miss hardware that lowers the quality experience, Apple loses credibility, Psystar disappears, Ballmer laughs, Steve Jobs encases himself in carbonite, PC fanboys bleat, world asplodes. It's diabolical.
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