Full FeedPsystar goes even lower than Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment
A few months ago, I wrote a piece on Microsoft’s Mojave Experiment. The piece had little, if any, good to say about the ads. They were full of misleading ideas, research, and numbers. But they look perfectly angelic in light of Psystar’s recent ad push.
You remember Psystar, right? The company that makes Mac clones that was sued by Apple and is now settling out of court? Well, until they’re shut down, it appears they are going full force. Yesterday, I saw the very first ad for Psystar on YouTube. With the headline “Why buy a used Apple? Experience Mac OS X for less,” I just had to see the case they made for this.
The page the ad took me to was sad to see. It contained quite a few typos (what’s a “warranry?”) and a whole lot of randomly chosen “research.” The main focus of the page is a product comparison (below) between a used iMac G5 and a new Psystar Open Computer.
There are so many things wrong here, it’s not even funny. First of all, why did they pick a G5? It’s not comparable to a Psystar computer in any way, though they’ll still compare them. For the first item, the monitor, Psystar notes that the G5 comes with a 20” monitor, while the OpenComputer comes with an optional 19” screen for an extra $199. So, you’ll get a smaller screen with the OpenComputer, and they don’t include that $199 in the final price. If we were to do that, the OpenComputer would be $100 more than the really arbitrary price of the G5.
Where did they get $654 iMac price from anyway? I can find better G5s than this on eBay for much less. I can find Intel iMacs on eBay for less. It’s clear that Psystar has selected this machine and random price for no reason other than to woo in consumers who don’t think. A G5 isn’t comparable to an Intel in MHz. A “SuperDrive” and “20x Dual Layer DVD+RW” aren’t comparable to a non-savvy consumer. They’ve conveniently picked a G5 that can’t run Windows even though Intel machines can be found for much less and can run all those OSes legally. Finally, what does a warranty mean when the company is being taken to court for copyright infringement by a huge company? Oh yeah, and an iMac G5 looks better, runs OS X legally, and finally doesn’t have fans blowing 24/7 like the Psystar.
I just hope that consumers can do a bit of research, or at least check eBay, before buying from this company. What do you think? Comment below.
Check out a screenshot of the product page.
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Please, let’s stop repeating false information. They are not settling out of court. They MIGHT. I doubt it.
http://news.worldofapple.com/archives/2008/10/20/in-brief-did-apple-waive-its-right-to-trial-in-the-psystar-suit/
I agree with you totally on the comparison thing, but please, this rumour that this case is definitely settling out of court has to stop. All court cases go to ADR. It is ordered by the Court. I bet neither of them want to waste the time to do it.
on October 25, 2008 at 11:13 PM - LINKI have always thought that Psystar were loud-mouthed punks that need to be squashed by Apple anyhows. I hope Apple’s attorneys use this to show them for not being entirely forthright.
on October 25, 2008 at 11:15 PM - LINKYou are entirely correct, very poor choice of wording on my part.
on October 26, 2008 at 12:24 AM - LINKHey Adam, thanks. I am a legal assistant by day so I have been seeing so much misunderstanding about what the Agreement to go to Mediation means that I tend to go a bit postal when I see it LOL. I follow the case pretty case closely, feel free to get in touch with me if there is something you think might be not exactly what it might seem.
Thanks for bringing up the scummy tactics of Psystar further though. I am sure their attorneys (very talented attorneys btw) are cringing with some of the moves Psystar is making. There is no way that they are getting the green light to be so obnoxious while a case is pending. At least I can’t imagine so. Rudy Pedraza has shot off his mouth, and I am dying to see Apple shut it for him.
on October 26, 2008 at 12:31 AM - LINK