Get ready for the Mac pirates Apple

By Stan Beer
Tuesday, 15 April 2008 05:19

Opinion and Analysis

The first unsanctioned Mac clone has hit the market and it won’t be the last. It is hard to imagine that the day Apple moved to Intel architecture that the company didn’t see this coming. The question is how will Apple stop the flood gates from opening?

From the instant stories surfaced on the Web about the “Open Computer: The Smart Alternative to an Apple” from a Miami-based company called Psystar, the blogosphere was alight with speculation about Apple’s response. The fact that Psystar’s website was down for sometime due to heavy traffic sparked unfounded rumours that Apple had already taken legal action.

There is little doubt that Apple already has put its legal team to work on shutting down the Mac OS X related marketing activities of Psystar and it will certainly succeed. The problem for Apple is that Pandora’s box is now open.

Psystar, previously a little known PC system builder and consulting firm, has grabbed worldwide attention by offering high spec hardware packages that are claimed to be capable of running Mac OS X at much cheaper prices than even the cheapest Mac. Apple can put a stop to Psystar marketing its products as Mac clones but it can’t stop Psystar from building and selling the hardware and now everyone – including other system builders - knows what the hardware can do.

An interesting thing about this episode is that Psystar is based in the US rather than in China or elsewhere in Asia, where software piracy has been rife for decades. However, the chances are there are already a few dozen little system builders taking a lead from Psystar and preparing to flood the markets of Asia with even cheaper and nastier Mac clones  - perhaps unlike Psystar even running pirated versions of Mac OS X.

Anyone who doubts the market for popular hardware running pirated software in Asia and other parts of the world where cost is an issue should take a visit to some of the electronics flea markets in those places. Last year, I saw an Asus Eee PC on sale running Windows 2006! CONTINUED page 2