Hello again. Anyone following the legal battle between Psystar (a company that claims to sell an open computer that can run mac osx) and the almighty Apple Inc. Apple says Psystar is infringing their copyright but Psystar says since Apple sells the Mac OSX OS as a separate product, they do not need to FORCE consumers to buy their hardware. Na wah oh.
I think this is needed and I know Microsoft execs would be so loving this.
My thoughts: Apple should introduce a mid-low end desktop in the $500-$700 range with similar specs to the iMac. We all love their OS but the hardware is too darn costly. Whenever I want to purchase a mac, I save like I want to build a house.
I actually won't mind trying out the system from Psystar but I am sure in the nearest future, Apple would block their systems from performing software updates.
I LOVE A HEALTHY COMPETITION BECAUSE IN THE END THE CUSTOMER SMILES.

hmm, the endless legal wrangles Apple gets into. well, i guess patents must be protected.  but though I'm no lawyer my limited legal understanding informs me that in this case Apple has the upper hand: the license agreement on the Mac OS X states that the end-user agrees not to install the OS on any hardware not authorized by Apple, so evidently its the end users who are infringing, not psystar.

the real problem for psystar is incorporating mechanisms that bypass Apple's TPM checks on the CD, and this in US laws is a violation; anyone creating, peddling or using tools that defeat copyright protection locks is guilty of infringement.

the best option is just to buy the darn Apple machines, or get a copy of Kalyway DVD or iatkos and install OS X on regular HP pavilions and Sony VAIOs!


meanwhile Apple MacMini is sub-$700.

Ex my guy, I knew you would post first. You always shed light on issues. Apple hardware is just too darn expensive plus the so-called authorised dealers in Naija are bloody rip-offs. Which one is Kalyway DVD or latkos? Will google right away.
Thanks brother.

Which authorised dealers are you talking about ? Never seen one, never heard one. Can anybody shed more light on why Apple hardware is so expensive ? With the use of Intel processors and Nvidia graphic cards, apple is slowly seeing the light and giving up parts of its hardware to good manufactures.

As for authorised dealers, Superior equipment is one and MetroLAN is another. I think PC Outlet @ the palms is also another. I have never bought any apple product from them because of the prices. I am on the internet everytime and can't help comparing their prices with the dollar value on Apple's site.
The reason why Apple hardware is so expensive is because they see themselves as the Rolls ROyce of computing. LOl!

actually its the attention to detail and the construction that leads to higher price tags. its not easy building fiber glass or aluminum unibody enclosures, so we pay the premium. at least you can rest assured that your expensive machine would hardly brick up or go nuts on you.


i don't always trust these dubious naija dealer; they command too much a profit over and beyond apple's MSRP. its pure theft, selling a 15" Macbook for like 200k naira.


although ive left the OSx86 scene long ago after my first encounter with a real mac, I'm checking in the forums every now and then. Kalyway, leo4all and iatkos are essentially modified OS X installer DVDs modified to run on almost any multicore WinTel  (and some select single core AMD) machines. (I'm sure you know Wintel means any windows intel x86 pc).

what they do is integrate something called PC-EFI (basically an emulator of Apple's BIOS-like EFI) to vanilla OS X and integrate various kexts to drive devices on these machines.

the end result? Mac OS X on stock windows/intel machines. YES!! all your generic HP pavilions and VAIOs and ACERS and Toshibas of this world can run OS X using these DVDs. you can get them on all good torrent sites. iatkos is in version 2, leo4all as well.

ps: i read that psystar has actually sued Apple for antitrust, but the case got squashed in court. see rubbish! how can you sue someone for preventing you from selling something you have no right to?

I know Apple hardware seem to be premium materials. Take for example. I need to purchase 2 systems at the moment. The Mac pros I see around are going for about 850,000 here. The 2 systems would set me back about N2m. Mind you, I havent even replaced the car that the men of the night took away. Naija na wah oh.
I just started downloading the Kalyway with 10.5.2 and hopefully I will be able to do a review before Easter.

sorry about your car, nowyou have a good excuse to con your pa into buying you that ferrari 


2m for 2 Mac Pros? please tell me you have a huge studio or something! what the hell can't you do with a MB Pro that you need a Mac Pro? is it the 16gig RAM config?

jebub!

well, you should have said "easter, all things being equal". since you're in naija and everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong (Murphy's Law); you need to factor in NEPA, Network blackouts, pokey cousins etc.

me, i give you a download finish time of say just before christmas 2009, when hopefully we are using fuel-cell or cabbage  powered quantum laptops with godzillabytes of RAM and controlling them with our minds.

hopefully.

Mac OSX on windows based machines !!! burrrrr Abeg Ex, don't give me nightmares. That goes against the laws of nature. Any news on snow leopard ? Am waiting for it to come out before ordering my macbook and iphone.

Let me say we are expanding our business. Adding another edit suite and an audio studio (voice booth). The voice booth can use an iMac sha.
The download speed just got to 40KBps, Yay!

40kbps for something like 3gigs? that rooughly translates into 52 days barring hitches and slowdowns.

almost two months.

well, semper fi, brother.


oh, so you DO have a studio.

samir101ng:

Mac OSX on windows based machines !!! burrrrr  Abeg Ex, don't give me nightmares. That goes against the laws of nature. Any news on snow leopard ? Am waiting for it to come out before ordering my macbook and iphone.

yeah samir101ng, i feel your pain. Linux users felt the same way when it was narrated to them that andLinux allows windows and linux to cohabit on the same partition and run simultaneosly side by side.

some said it was the worst case of godlessness, others say its the end of the world.

snow leopard is set to release by ending of this year, or early next.