[Macworld]

Post your comments for Clone-maker Psystar files for bankruptcy here

[Photog_7]

I wonder how many recent customers have paid for Psystar computers but will not receive them due to the bankruptcy.

[lkrupp]

This stinks to high heaven. This whole situation is being manipulated by someone behind the curtain.

[jpellino]

Well, Apple certainly didn't raise their prices... Spot DRAM prices are stable if not cut... This doesn't pass the smell test. Of course not much of their story ever did.

[macFanDave]

"The Florida court has scheduled a hearing for the bankruptcy proceedings on June 5, at which point the entities funding Psystar will be at last disclosed."

I cannot wait to find out who those SOB's are! If it involves Dell, Microsoft, HP, RIMM or anyone else who competes with Apple, the guilty parties will bring a lot of damage to their companies.

[mdawson]

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The documents for the court case, unearthed by ZDNet, show Psystar blaming the economic climate for its current financial plight, saying that its suppliers raised prices, forcing Psystar to operate at "diminutive profit."

Or Psystar could raise the price of their products to retain the necessary profit margin to stay viable. As jpellino mentioned, Apple?s RAM prices have remained pretty stable and DRAM prices have been increasing all year. The lesson here boys and girls is that when you go into business selling products under cost for slim margins, it will eventually comes back to bite you in the a?. Dell is suffering the same fate, although as a larger (legitimate) operation Dell is not filing bankruptcy. Personal computers are not cheap and illegally using another company?s product is ultimately expensive.

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The list of creditors is topped by Carr & Farrell, the intellectual property law firm that was representing Psystar in its case against Apple (though the form oddly lists the nature of the claim as "Credit Card Processing"),

Would that not be a false claim and thus perjury?

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There?s long been a question as to where exactly Psystar got its capital, with many a conspiracy theorist coming down with a highly contagious case of cough Microsoft coughcough. The Florida court has scheduled a hearing for the bankruptcy proceedings on June 5, at which point the entities funding Psystar will be at last disclosed.

The revelation of Psystar?s backers will indeed be interesting although Microsoft was not one that I ever considered a candidate because Microsoft is 1) a software company and 2) ultimately concerned with the sale of its software, Windows in particular, which even Macs can run. Apparently I may have been erroneous in that assessment given Microsoft?s recent ad campaign that focuses on that which the company does not play any role: the hardware.

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However, this isn?t a straight-up loss for Psystar. The bankruptcy filing means that the company?s current legal battle with Apple over whether or not Psystar?s clone business violates Apple?s copyright is now on hold, pending the results of the bankruptcy proceedings. Meanwhile, the company gets an attempt to escape its predicament?in its filing, Psystar says it plans to come out of bankruptcy with a strong plan for its future.

And that begs the question as to whether this is a intentional move on Psystar?s part in order to provide their legal team more time to make up bull to justify the illegal installation and resale of OS X.

[benroethig]

Microsoft as a backer wouldn't make any sense. Why would they want OSX on the open market? Its much less of a threat to them while its tied to niche Ive machines.

[TeaEarleGreyHot]

"The list of creditors is topped by Carr & Farrell, the intellectual property law firm that was representing Psystar...."
So the legal defense against Apple is the major reason why Psystar is going under. Once again, only the lawyers win.

[mdawson]

The only legitimate reason I could see for Microsoft to want OS X on the open market would be so that it is put into the same precarious position that Windows has always faced. With OS X on the open market Apple takes a huge hit in quality control, particularly as OS X has been developed exclusively for Apple hardware.

At best, Microsoft can only attempt to get a representative sample of every potential Wintel PC available at any given time. You can best believe that Microsoft?s test PCs are not a random sampling of target (read: intended compatible) systems. Apple on the other hand has a perpetual statisticians dream: the ability to always test 100% of the target population for any release or update of OS X. The better the sample the better the confidence level, but sampling the entire population provides 100% confidence. The latter is of course barring manufacturing variation and any aftermarket configuration by the user.

OS X?s robustness can be as much attributed to the level of quality control Apple?s business model affords them as it can to its UNIX core. On the flip side, Windows very long list of issues is perhaps more attributable to the sheer number of varied systems upon which it runs as it is to Microsoft?s predatory, monopolistic, megalomaniac business model.

[Steve_S]

lkrupp said:

This stinks to high heaven. This whole situation is being manipulated by someone behind the curtain.

Well, it's long been suggested that another party(s) were behind Psystar. But, seriously, who cares? Who didn't see this coming? It looks like the backers behind Psystar don't have the stomach for the amount of money they'd have to lose in order to establish a viable Mac clone market. As a consumer, who in their right mind would buy such an unsupported machine and actually depend on doing work on that machine? It's one thing to do it as a hobby like building a hackintosh, but it's another to actually expect people to buy these machines for real use.

As for Microsoft, I don't see any real motive there. Microsoft is in the business of selling copies of Windows. Establishing a healthy Mac clone market adds zero to their bottom line. However, it could possibly put Apple in a difficult position. Still, it's not the mid 90's anymore and Apple as a company isn't as dependent upon Mac hardware sales as it once was.

[giulio]

I was planning on purchasing a Psystar if the final judgment was in their favor and it was then legal to do so. Perhaps others feel the same way, and this waiting game is hurting them a lot.

[benroethig]

mdawson said:

The only legitimate reason I could see for Microsoft to want OS X on the open market would be so that it is put into the same precarious position that Windows has always faced. With OS X on the open market Apple takes a huge hit in quality control, particularly as OS X has been developed exclusively for Apple hardware.

Its a much different world than it was half a decade a go. Apple no longer makes it own hardware or chipsets and there are only a couple chipsets out there and those are shrinking every year. This means two things. 1) the number or drivers required are a fraction of what it used to be and 2) Apple has become very PC like in its manufacturing process. Apple uses the same parts as windows machines, they contract out for parts just like windows machines, and they're built the same factories as windows machines. They do split contracts just like windows machines so two iMacs or Macbooks can have slightly different parts. The only thing that is really different is the case and they don't require drivers.

The main difference is in the OS. OSX is more modular in its design, tries to use open standards rather than individual device drivers, and is better able to cope with different hardware configurations than windows.

[macnuke]

lkrupp said:

This stinks to high heaven. This whole situation is being manipulated by someone behind the curtain.

Don't pay attention to the man behind the curtain... For I am the all powerful Wizard of OZ


:p

[rab777hp]

today is a sad day