PsyStar: 'Mission accomplished'?
April 15th 2008
Over the weekend, PsyStar shocked (and delighted some of) the faithful when they said they were selling the OpenMac, a generic PC with Leopard preloaded for $554.
Yesterday, the company's website buckled under the load and went down leaving thousands wondering whether OpenMac would be available after they recovered.
Unsurprisingly, PsyStar has stopped using the OpenMac name and is instead offering the same product as the OpenComputer:
If you purchase Leopard with your Open Computer we will not only include the actual Leopard retail package with genuine installation disc, but we also include a Psystar restore disc for your Open Computer and we will preinstall Leopard for free so you can begin to use your computer right out of the box.
The Open Computer's price with Leopard ($554) is the same as the OpenMac's was. So, aside from ditching the offending nomenclature, everything else remains the same, including the specs (A computer without Leopard still sells for $400, as well).
So, why market a product you know Apple will come after you for? Publicity.
Yet, the question remains as to how long they'll be allowed to sell computers that so obviously violate Apple's EULA? Also, it's certainly within Apple's rights to seek damages and how much margin is there on a $400 PC?
Which brings us back to the question of what exactly PsyStar is trying to accomplish...
What's your take?
