The Psystar Scenario

So, this company called Psystar apparently didn’t get the memo that Steve Jobs killed the Mac clones back in 1998. That, or they just aren’t really that smart. Either way, their site is back up and their $399 Open Computer (changed from Open Mac) is available for purchase.

Interestingly, their Terms of Service (that you must accept before purchasing their “Open” computer) states:

When you purchase an OpenMac you understand that you are not purchasing a computer made by Apple Computers, Inc. You understand that Apple Computers does not support the OpenMac in any capacity and that they may not approve of your usage of the OpenMac. In the same token Psystar does not guarantee that each and every program and feature will not operate correctly as the OpenMac is not supported by Apple Computers. Psystar does not support the OS X operating system. All copies of OS X sold by Psystar are legitimately licensed and purchased from Apple Computers and are not pirated in any way. Psystar does not guarantee that any of your peripherals, Apple-related or not, will function correctly. Psystar will not be responsible for your usage of the OpenMac in any way.

The people who run this company are really, really dumb. They obviously want to tap in to the OSx86 crowd, and appear to have done so. However, Apple Legal is going to bring a world of hurt down on them soon. Why didn’t these clowns just market their vanilla PC as being “Hackintosh” friendly? Sell Leopard at cost, and let the hackers do their thing? After all, even if you buy this machine, you still have to hack the OS for it to run on it, and every Software Update from Apple is likely to render the OS unusable.

Mac compatability aside, $399 for a machine of these specs looks pretty decent. If this company showed a little more intelligence I’d be inclined to buy one to run Linux. But with a display of stupidity this large, I’m left with no confidence in their PC assembling abilities.

Category: Hardware