Apple Suit Demands That Psystar Recall OpenMacs 759
Da'Man writes "The Psystar saga takes another series of turns. Not only is the website down but an examination of the suit filed by Apple shows that the Cupertino Goliath wants Psystar to recall all Open Computer and OpenServ systems sold by the company since April. It seems that Steve Jobs is out to totally sink Psystar and put an end to Mac clones."
Re:Apple particularly doesn't like things like thi (Score:5, Informative)
into a different game... Re:IBM PC (Score:4, Informative)
There is no TPM. (Score:5, Informative)
Cribbed shamelessly from an Ars Technica discussion on the same issue:
"TPM DRM" In Mac OS X: A Myth That Won't Die
Amit Singh
http://www.osxbook.com/book/bo...chapter7/tpmdrmmyth/
Beating a Dead Horse
"In October 2006, I wrote about the TPM and its "use" in Mac OS X. Since Apple provided no software or firmware drivers for the TPM ...
"Apple's TPM Keys"
"The media has been discussing "Apple's use of TPM" for a long time now. There have been numerous reports of system attackers bypassing "Apple's TPM protection" and finding "Apple's TPM keys." Nevertheless, it is important to note that Apple does not use the TPM."
In short, while there was a TPM chip in some of the early shipping Intel systems, there were no drivers for it, and Apple did not use it. Current shipping Macintel systems don't even have the TPM chip, so there's no possible way for them to use one.
Dan Aris
Re:IBM PC (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Apple particularly doesn't like things like thi (Score:2, Informative)
It's true that you can get laptops for under $1k, but it's quite a bit harder to find a 13.3" one like the MacBook for much less. I've seen the Toshiba Satellite for about $750 at Best Buy when it's on sale for $150 off list, but that's about it. Dells and Sonys are both >$1k, and HP and Gateway don't even offer that form factor. I bought a 13.3" myself recently since for me it's about the right spot between portability and usefulness, and in that niche the MacBook is not too badly priced (but I still didn't buy one). The MacBook Pro, on the other hand, seems way overpriced to me for what you get.
Re:Lame (Score:3, Informative)
Re:IBM PC (Score:5, Informative)
That's not true, by law, an aftermarket part can only void your warranty if it is responsible for the warranty claim [turnermotorsport.com]. Back to Apple, this comes into play with jailbreaking iPhones, for instance. If you brick your phone, you've likely voided your warranty, but if the power button falls off or something, that's still covered under warranty, even if you've jailbroken your phone.
(including upgrading/replacing the radio or adding aftermarket DVD systems)
Upgrading your radio will not void your warranty unless the radio causes something else to fail. If you upgrade your radio, and blow your speakers, they're probably not going to be covered, but if you upgrade your radio and your wheel falls off, that's still covered.
You also can't exactly install a Honda computer from one car into another Honda and expect it to work...
That's a technological limitation, not a legal one.
Apple has a lot of proprietary technologies in their systems
If you're talking about hardware, that's not even close to true. At one time their systems were significantly different from Windows machines, but now they're built with the exact same hardware. The only difference is Apple motherboards have a chip that OSX looks for. It could be argued that circumventing this security measure is a violation of the DMCA, I suppose...
Re:IBM PC (Score:3, Informative)
That chip is the SMC, the only thing they do is grab an encryption key out of the chip and use it to decrypt protected binaries. The key can be read out by some simple code, its not even protected.
Re:IBM PC (Score:3, Informative)
They also didn't invent multi-touch.
MS actually had a demo multi-touch computer back in the 90's.
Re:IBM PC (Score:3, Informative)
...but Honda DOES state that you can only use Honda Approved parts, or void your warranty, and they also refuse to allow changes to any parts of the electrical system or engine for the first 36K miles or void just the same (including upgrading/replacing the radio or adding aftermarket DVD systems)
It's very simple, the magnuson-moss warranty act prohibits this sort of thing, you can only demand that the parts meet your specifications, then you have to prove that they don't. It's cheaper just to provide the warranty service anyway. That text in there is just there to scare people, and they have no real legal leg to stand on.
You also can't exactly install a Honda computer from one car into another Honda and expect it to work...
No, you'd have to swap the whole engine probably or at least big pieces of harness, which would reasonably void your warranty.
Seriously though, putting non-Honda transmission parts (e.g. new synchros or something) will NOT void your powertrain warranty, nor will having the service done by someone other than the dealer, even during the warranty period. That's illegal anywhere in the US.
Re:into a different game... Re:IBM PC (Score:5, Informative)
Though the iPod and iPhone are popular, there is no way Apple could survive on those products alone. Mac is their core business. If they lose their supremacy to cloners, they're sunk.
On what do you base this assumption? This article [marketwatch.com] is old, but it shows an opposing point of view:
Leading the charge for Apple was its line of iPods, with the company shipping 21 million of the market-leading devices during the quarter, a 50% jump from a year ago. Sales of the device accounted for $3.43 billion of the company's revenue, or nearly half the total.
Apple's total number of iPod sales now stands at about 90 million units since the device first went on sale in October 2001.
"After five years, the iPod is still going strong," said Shaw Wu, an analyst with American Technology Research. "It's still a very popular product." Wu holds a buy rating on Apple's stock. The results show that demand for Apple's products remains strong despite stepped-up competition from rivals such as Microsoft Corp. (MSFT: Microsoft Corporation News, chart, profile, more Last: 27.26+1.10+4.20% 4:12pm 07/16/2008 Delayed quote data Add to portfolio Analyst Create alert Insider Discuss Financials Sponsored by: MSFT 27.26, +1.10, +4.2%) , which is pushing hard to boost its share of the digital entertainment market with a new handheld media player and other consumer products.
"The iPod sales were shocking," said Gene Munster, of Piper Jaffray. "And the earnings power of this company is reaching record levels."
Macintosh computer sales also surged, rising 40% to $2.4 billion, while Mac shipments rose 28% to 1.61 million units, more than double the growth of the overall PC market. The Mac results were a slightly below many analysts forecasts, as several had expected Apple to sell between 1.75 million and 1.8 million Macs during the quarter.
However, Munster, of Piper Jaffray, said the holiday-quarter Mac sales needed to be taken into context, and were actually solid because they remained almost in line with Apple's September quarter results, which is when Apple sees strong back-to-school PC sales.
"People give iPods for Christmas, not computers," Munster said.
Re:IBM PC (Score:3, Informative)
i.e. BSD: Mac OS X is based on the Mach kernel and is derived from the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) implementation of Unix in Nextstep.
Re:What would be the point? (Score:5, Informative)
All Macs are expandable, although some require a bit of work.
The Mac mini and Macbook have crippled GPUs, these can not be replaced or upgraded. The Macbook Pro does not have any user accessible internal expansion other than the memory (no, it does not have a swappable hard drive, let alone a swappable optical drive bay).
iMac + Radeon HD 2600 PRO = 1337.
iMac is not a compact Mac, nor a conventional desktop. The only conventional desktop Apple has is the Mac mini, and it's crippled.
By Mac mini Pro, you're pretty much imagining a Cube
Except without being more than twice as expensive as a comparable wintel box. The cube was drastically overpriced, costing more than a G4 tower, and apparently was supposed to succeed purely on its looks because it was far less computer than the G4.
Also, the MacBook Air will probably take advantage of Atom and up it's specs to better compete with the ThinkPad
The kind of Thinkpad I'm talking about costs less than the Macbook (non pro, non air), but has a real GPU, a better keyboard than any Apple laptop, two (actual, usable) buttons on the trackpad, a trackpoint mouse, an optical ultrabay (so you can swap out the optical drive, or replace it with a hard drive caddy or an extra battery), a docking port[1], and a physically more rigid case. Oh, and it doesn't have that stupid 'magsafe' connector that keeps pulling out of my Macbook Pro when I'm using it as an actual laptop.
You ask for a conventional, average-specced desktop, then you ask for, essentially, a tiny Mac Pro.
Um, that would be "no, that's not what I'm asking for". A Mac Pro is an 8 core ultra-high-end workstation. I'm talking about a 2 core desktop, comparable to the kind of box you can get (except for Mac OS X, of course) for $300-$400 from anyone but Apple[2]. I'm not sure where you get 'a tiny Mac pro' from that.
[1] Of course a docking station is not available for any Mac laptop, and no the "bookendz" monstrosity doesn't count.
[2] With Apple's 40% markup that would still be cheaper than the Mac mini.
Re:Apple demands? (Score:2, Informative)
The only people who buy Apple anything are the unwashed me-too masses...
I hate to break your bubble. Of late, have you been to an engineering graduate school in pretty much any university (worth its name) and looked around for Macs? I was in (engineering) grad school from 2001 to 2005 (was doing my MS/PhD) and saw an exponential increase in the number of Macs over that period, both among students and faculty. Certainly, these are not dumb twits who buy a Mac because it is "ooh-so-shiny". One of the biggest reasons was Apple's switch to OS-X.
Just something to dwell on.