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Stop the Noiz

Apple Gave Psystar Enough Rope to Hang Itself

Frank Fox - 2008.07.18 - Tip Jar

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Months ago, I wrote Dan Knight, the editor of Low End Mac, that I thought Apple would go after Psystar, not over violating the shrink-wrap EULA, but for damaging its trademark. As I read things, that is exactly what Apple is doing.

You only had to read the reviews of the loud fan noise and missing features to know that Psystar wasn't selling a computer that could live up to Apple's reputation. Even the biggest Apple hater wouldn't claim that Macs were as bad as this clone from Psystar. Except for the low price and novelty, they weren't very good.

Apple and its lawyers didn't have to go after Psystar right away. It was better that they let Psystar do all the things they did. Psystar created all the proof Apple's lawyers need to prove that what Psystar was doing was bad for Apple's reputation. There is no worry that in some Bizzaro world Apple will have to license its OS to a "bunch of yahoos" like Psystar.

Psystar is going to be out of business shortly, and that's that.

You simply don't want to mess with someone else's brand. You don't take Pepsi, rebottle it, and try to sell it as your own product - unless you're crazy. There is so much case law against you that unless Pepsi gives you permission, you're done.

My advise to Psystar's owners is file for bankruptcy and hope Apple doesn't come after you personally.

If the rest of you want to run Mac OS X on a PC, you have to do like this guy and roll your own.

Another problem with Psystar was that if anything went wrong, you were on your own until they could maybe release a patch. There was no Apple support.

The value of doing it yourself is that by the end you should understand what you changed to get it to work. Then you have a better chance of understanding any future problems and fixing them yourself. The EULA probably won't stop you from doing this for yourself - just don't be stupid like Psystar and try to sell it.

So good-bye, Psystar, and good luck to any would be hackers. Have fun getting Mac OS X running, and send me an email about how much money you saved. If you can prove it to be worth the hassle, maybe I'll try it.

Recent Stop the Noiz Columns

My Windows 7 Launch Party, 10.23. "The final surprise was that things started to slow down during my demo. I had XP Mode running, several open windows, and a half dozen other apps running."
Windows 7: Bait for Windows XP and Vista Users, 10.19. While Win 7 is competing with OS X in features, it's target audience is Windows users, not Mac users.
Windows 7 vs. MacBook, 10.14. A free copy of Windows 7 leads to installation problems and two days of frustration, like no 64-bit Boot Camp Utilties.
Moving Data at the Speed of Light (Peak), 10.02. Intel's new Light Peak data transfer protocol is designed for 10 gibabits per second, with plans to push it to 100 Gb/s in the future.
More in the Stop the Noiz index.

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