You'll have noticed the claims of Psystar that it will be selling an "OpenComputer" (smart, avoiding the use of the Apple trademark in the "OpenMac" name it previously used) that will, in effect, be an Apple clone.
But we thought we'd look further, because if the company's going to make these big claims about what it can do, why, that's interesting; but what sort of company is behind it?
The Psystar site talks a lot. OK. The site was registered in 2000, according to whois, but what's odd is that searches on Google and on Live.com don't turn up anything about the company before this week. Zip. Zero. Nada.
I called the Miami Chamber of Commerces and its Better Business Bureau. They've never heard of it.
I called the company. The automated system asked if I want Sales? Support? Human Resources? Let's have a laugh and call HR. No reply. (This was 11.45am their time.) Did I want to leave a message? Press the pound key when done. I did. "Error."
Call again - let's try Support this time. A man answers, doesn't give his name, and refers pretty much all questions to press@psystar.com. While he's on, why isn't there any reference to Psystar online before this week? "We're a small IT company, doing solutions anywhere from small office networks to enterprise-level networks." The company's latest product, he said, was a storage area network.
OK, so who are the clients? Why no mention in any forums or press releases of the wonderful work Psystar has done for these small and large businesses? Most people are delighted, after all, to pump out words about what they've done. But zero hits? "We were a local company with little to no presence on the web," he explained. Uh-huh. But the website has been around since 2000, and moved hosts in 2005.
He referred us again to the press email address. OK, did Psystar offer a 24-hour support line? (Even the teams in The Apprentice do that. For your laundry, no less.) "No." Oh. Were there many people doing support for Psystar? "I'm not support." But I thought... "I'm just answering the phones." Oh.
Sent an email to Psystar. No reply so far.
And then we thought we'd look closer at the location they're in. And that's where things got really strange.
The address had changed completely.
Earlier in the day, it was giving 10645 SW 112 St, Miami FL 33176. (Happily, I took a screenshot.) 
And now, while I'd been writing this post, it's moved - to 10481 NW 28th St, Miami, FL 33172.
OK, that's got to be the weirdest thing I've ever seen in years of covering technology. The first address, on Google Maps, looks like your average row of suburban houses.
The second - new! - one looks far more office-y, or at least industrial.
But you know what's most interesting? Apple's complete silence on this. It hasn't said a word. I suspect that it's waiting to see if anything emerges from this. It hasn't stopped the Mac world working itself into a lather, poring over EULAs and talking about EFIs; it's just nobody seems to have bothered to pick up a phone and call.
But forgive me for being a bit sceptical, but isn't it far, far more important whether the company has been around, has a reputation, and is going to deliver a machine? Isn't it?
(Updated to add link back to original post about OpenMac; slight grammar cleanup.)
Wednesday update: Psystar has moved again.
Comments
Comments are now closed on this entry.
"isn't it far, far more important whether the company has been around, has a reputation, and is going to deliver a machine? Isn't it?"
Well, it would be in anyone was actually going to order one of these. I'm no fan of Apple's hardware and have said before in comments on these blogs that I think it would be a good move on Apple's part to sell their OS separately, so that customers had the opportunity to run it on a proper computer.
But I can't see why anyone would buy one of these unproven PsyStar (is that pronounced "sister"?) machines rather than a Mac mini -- which ought at least to have as good a keyboard and screen as the buyer deserves.
Surely this is just a guy working in his garage? what were you expecting? Venture capital and a massive startup? Whats the barrier of entry to this business? Access to pc components, osx86 and the internet. theres plenty of setups like this in every town the land.
The first address, you can look up here:
http://www.intelius.com/people-search-address.html?searchform=address&
Search terms: "10645 SW 112TH ST, Miami, FL"
According to the summary, it's a 3 bedroom
property built in 1957. I'm too miserly to
pay the $14,95 for further details :)
Anyone buying a Mac clone from this lot deserves what they get (or maybe don't get). I doubt Apple will ever allow 3rd party Macs, even if Steve Jobs quits, there's no reason for them to do it unless they are going to sacrifice all the things they're famous for like design, and software/hardware integration for some sort of blip in market share, which simply doesn't make sense. Still, your investigation adds fascinating grist to the mill. Will watch with interest.
For the record, I think Psystar is actual meant to be Pshyster, but I could be wrong.
Isn't there some cash available in the budget to allow you to buy one of these machines and do a review on it (or indeed see if it actually turns up)?
"It hasn't stopped the Mac world working itself into a lather, poring over EULAs and talking about EFIs; it's just nobody seems to have bothered to pick up a phone and call."
That's not exactly true. Ars Technica has called and e-mailed multiple contacts within Apple PR, and Apple has simply chosen not to respond to our requests for comment.
Re. merkio... if it turns up? Yeah, and if that goal is reached, then the huge challenge of if it turns on, methinks.
The psystar.com website has been alive since around March 31, 2001, according to the Internet Archive (http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.psystar.com), but for most of that time it's had the words "under.renovation: reinventing the wheel" on it.
For what it's worth, here is the link to Psystar's Florida Secretary of State corporate filing:
http://www.sunbiz.org/scripts/cordet.exe?action=DETFIL&inq;_doc_number=P07000077580&inq;_came_from=NAMFWD&cor;_web_names_seq_number=0000&names;_name_ind=N&names;_cor_number=&names;_name_seq=&names;_name_ind=&names;_comp_name=PSYSTAR&names;_filing_type=
Here's the T-Shirt company, Cotton Images, which still appears to be doing business at Psystar's new address. It's possible the address has suites, but it doesn't look like it from Google Maps or either company's address listing.
At least Cotton Images seems to have a decent client list...
http://www.cottonimages.com/
tomsm wrote:
> For what it's worth, here is the link to Psystar's Florida
> Secretary of State corporate filing ...
Hmm. No FEIN. That implies PsyStar has never paid federal income tax or filed a Florida sales-tax return. Not such a great sign of legitimacy. All the best to 'em, though -- they'll need all the help they can get once Apple's legal hellhounds are on their trail.
SheldonW wrote:
> Here's the T-Shirt company, Cotton Images, which still
> appears to be doing business at Psystar's new address. It's
> possible the address has suites, but it doesn't look like
> it from Google Maps or either company's address listing.
Psystar's new address is possibly fake?
There's a picture of a (perhaps 'the') building here:
http://www.cottonimages.com/images/ciext.jpg
Curiously, when Woz and Jobs built the Apple I, they also sold it out of a garage. Their phone number, like Psystar, also ended in 66666 (the unit also sold for $666.66!).
My theory: Psystar is actually Wozniak having a laugh!
all those who want non-Apple hardware - I gather it's pretty much sorted, people have been running OS X on all kinds of kit. But most Mac users I know are there as much for the hardware as anything (there was a time when it was very reliable etc, even if more expensive. It's got more blurry now, but then, it's cheaper than it was)
"so that customers had the opportunity to run it on a proper computer"
Wait, i am not sure to understand such statement. Mac Pros are certainly the best designed (internally and externally) and powerful desktop workstations that money can buy and for you they are not proper computers?
iMacs are probably the best designed and out of the box ready to use computers on the market, full featured and fully capable for the majority of end users, and for you they are not proper computers?
Apple sells what is considered the best designed laptops on the market, MacBooks and MacBooks pro, and for you they are not proper computers? Adding to that the MacBook air which is a real breakthrough in the ultra mobile market.
I can understand that some people do not like the configurations that Apple sell or that they would prefer a cheap, crap, self built computer, or that they would prefer that Apple sells more configurations as Dell do, but please don't say us that Macs are not proper computers.
Then what is a proper computer for you? Maybe the ones which are struggling to run Vista, called pcs.....?
So stop the trolling, you are embarrassing yourself.
@JacquiCheng: "That's not exactly true. Ars Technica has called and e-mailed multiple contacts within Apple PR, and Apple has simply chosen not to respond to our requests for comment."
I meant to call Psystar, not Apple. (Also, ArsTech doesn't seem sure whether it's "Psystar" or Pystar, which may cause problems in looking it up in future: http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/04/14/company-claims-to-sell-mac-clone-for-399 uses both, but has no sign of looking up the company.) That's not to diss ArsTech; but some stories are about more than just the technology.
My point generally was that talk (and web pages) is cheap; it's product that matters. If this were shipping, we'd have something to focus on. Absent that, it seems sensible to focus on what the company's track record is. Jobs and Wozniak did set up out of a garage, but didn't also say that they had a track record of work for everyone from small businesses to enterprises. (Though they could have, as they did.)
So until such time as Psystar ships some kit, we'll await. And I'm afraid we're not going to sink the Tech budget into something that might not ever appear. I'd rather spend the money commissioning something that is definitely happening.
haksapporo: "Then what is a proper computer for you?"
It's quite a bit off topic but you did ask, so I'd better answer. Since I use the computer for writing, the main priority is a solid, comfortable keyboard. The third generation iBook that I used as my main computer from Nov 2002 to Jan 2006 certainly didn't have that. It had other problems too: a disappointing screen, a battery catch that broke and a logic board that failed (and to be fair was replaced, free, outside the warranty period). But the main reason why, when it came to time to replace the iBook, I didn't opt for another Mac was the keyboard.
It felt cheap and corner-cutting; my fingers were inclined to slip off the keys and it had too much flex. Worst of all, though, even with the key repeat rate set to zero, it constantly repeated letters. I couldn't tell by feel when a letter was repeated so, in the three years that I used the iBook, I got completely out of the habit of touch typing. Bah.
The newer MacBooks use a different keyboard design: the keyboard looks as if it has buttons rather than keys. I haven't had much opportunity to try it out, I just typed a few lines on a display unit in a shop. My first impression is that the new keyboard is an improvement but that it's still not good enough.
I was afraid when I bought a Windows notebook that I'd miss OS X. The main thing that I pine for is the Preview app, which makes it possible to read PDFs without having to start up Adobe Reader. But that's a minor inconvenience. For the most part, I'm getting along fine with Windows XP.
If you will like to know who the owner of Psystar is, here is their Florida Corporation Registration, as you can see they do not even have a tax ID. This comes directly as is from the official department of Corporations in Florida. sunbiz.org
Florida Profit Corporation
PSYSTAR CORPORATION
Filing Information
Document Number P07000077580
FEI Number NONE
Date Filed 07/06/2007
State FL
Status ACTIVE
Effective Date 07/01/2007
Principal Address
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Mailing Address
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Registered Agent Name & Address
PEDRAZA, RODOLFO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176 US
Officer/Director Detail
Name & Address
Title D
PEDRAZA, RODOLFO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Title D
PEDRAZA, ROBERTO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Annual Reports
No Annual Reports Filed
Document Images
Florida Profit Corporation
PSYSTAR CORPORATION
Filing Information
Document Number P07000077580
FEI Number NONE
Date Filed 07/06/2007
State FL
Status ACTIVE
Effective Date 07/01/2007
Principal Address
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Mailing Address
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Registered Agent Name & Address
PEDRAZA, RODOLFO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176 US
Officer/Director Detail
Name & Address
Title D
PEDRAZA, RODOLFO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Title D
PEDRAZA, ROBERTO
10645 SW 112 ST
MIAMI FL 33176
Annual Reports
No Annual Reports Filed
Document Images
Macs are just too handsome to want car-boot styling like this one.
Folio No.: 30-5008-003-0480
Property: 10645 SW 112 ST
Mailing Address: ANTONIO ARBELAEZ &W; NELLY
10625 SW 112 ST MIAMI FL
33176-3482
Property Information: Primary Zone: 2100 SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE
CLUC: 0001 RESIDENTIAL- SINGLE FAMILY
Beds/Baths: 3/2
Floors: 1
Living Units: 1
Adj Sq Footage: 1,950
Lot Size: 16,188 SQ FT
Year Built: 1957
Legal Description: COLETOWN ACRES PB 60-28 LOT 24 BLK 2 LOT SIZE 113.650 X 142 OR 20467-0001 062002 5 COC 24602-0010 06 2006 5
Sale Information: Sale O/R: 24602-0010
Sale Date: 6/2006
Sale Amount: $0
Assessment Information: Year: 2007 2006
Land Value: $280,692 $241,707
Building Value: $138,385 $119,043
Market Value: $419,077 $360,750
Assessed Value: $419,077 $360,750
Total Exemptions: $0 $0
Taxable Value: $419,077 $360,750
Additional Information: Click here to see more information for this property:
Community Development District
Community Redevelopment Area
Empowerment Zone
Enterprise Zone
Land Use
Urban Development Boundary
Zoning
Non-Ad Valorem Assessments
Folio No.: 30-5008-003-0470
Property: 10625 SW 112 ST
Mailing Address: ANTONIO J ARBELAEZ &W; NELLY
10625 SW 112 ST MIAMI FL
33176-3482
Property Information: Primary Zone: 2100 SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE
CLUC: 0001 RESIDENTIAL- SINGLE FAMILY
Beds/Baths: 3/2
Floors: 1
Living Units: 1
Adj Sq Footage: 1,518
Lot Size: 15,228 SQ FT
Year Built: 1956
Legal Description: COLETOWN ACRES PB 60-28 LOT 23 BLK 2 LOT SIZE 108.000 X 141 OR 13491-0427 1087 4
Sale Information: Sale O/R: 13392-2424
Sale Date: 8/1987
Sale Amount: $93,000
Assessment Information: Year: 2007 2006
Land Value: $272,052 $234,267
Building Value: $111,281 $105,057
Market Value: $383,333 $339,324
Assessed Value: $132,764 $129,526
Homestead Exemption: $25,000 $25,000
Total Exemptions: $25,000 $25,000
Taxable Value: $107,764 $104,526
Folio No.: 30-5008-003-0460
Property: 10605 SW 112 ST
Mailing Address: ANTONIO ARBELAEZ &W; NELLY
10605 SW 112 ST MIAMI FL
33176-3482
Property Information: Primary Zone: 2100 SINGLE FAMILY RESIDENCE
CLUC: 0001 RESIDENTIAL- SINGLE FAMILY
Beds/Baths: 3/2
Floors: 1
Living Units: 1
Adj Sq Footage: 1,766
Lot Size: 15,228 SQ FT
Year Built: 1958
Legal Description: 8 55 40 COLETOWN ACRES PB 60-28 LOT 22 BLK 2 LOT SIZE 108.000 X 141 OR 17044-3155 1295 1 COC 24602-0012 06 2006 5
Sale Information: Sale O/R: 17044-3155
Sale Date: 12/1995
Sale Amount: $86,000
Assessment Information: Year: 2007 2006
Land Value: $272,052 $234,267
Building Value: $119,409 $92,443
Market Value: $391,461 $326,710
Assessed Value: $391,461 $326,710
Total Exemptions: $0 $0
Taxable Value: $391,461 $326,710
this info was on tax site for the county
http://gisims2.miamidade.gov/myhome/propmap.asp
it appears it is a rental notice 3 houses have the same owner..
someone could call the owner or write a letter and find out more about this guy
"so that customers had the opportunity to run it on a proper computer"?
So what is exactly a proper computer? One that crashes all the time because of spyware, malware, security failures, trojans, and viruses like on PC's? Please, give me a break. A Mac, any Mac today can run any software you want from 4 different platforms. Mac, Windows, Linux, Unix and do them all equally well. It has all of the same ports and firewire which most PC's don't offer at all. Don't give us this proper computer garbage crap!
This company is offering a piece of crap from a computer junk store that they put together and claim it can run OSX. And so far that's all they claim it will do. In fact that's all they say. They don't claim it will run any other software, or be compatible with any other Mac hardware. So what is better about this computer?
Oh, it's in a cheap junk store PC box? No, that's not better. It has GMA graphics built in? No, that's not better either. Does it come with a keyboard and mouse? No, they don't mention that either. Does it come with a display? No, they don't mention that either. Does it have firewire ports? Nope, nada.
Okay for $400.00 you have a cheap box that a Mac mini will blow it's doors off with for $200.00 more. Comes with OSX Leopard, and iLife 08 which by the way they don't offer either. So much for a proper computer. You want to run Leopard OSX, Buy a Mac!
Interesting, one of the wayback archives September 23rd, 2001 mentions Razor FX in its source.
BASE HREF="http://psystar.com/"
-TITLE-RAZORFX.COM - SITE CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION-TITLE-
-/HEAD-
-BODY bgcolor="#000000"-
-TABLE HEIGHT="100%" VALIGN="CENTER"-
-TR--TD HEIGHT="100%" VALIGN="CENTER"-
-A Href="mailto:webmaster@razorfx.com"-
-img src="razorfxrings.jpg" border="0"-
Dunno how well the above will display, I replaced some of the characters in the hope that is does work ok.
Looking into razor fx I find this site, http://razorfx.blogspot.com/2006/05/razor-fx-brad-eisner-bradley-eisner.html
More importantly, rather than chasing shadows as to who/what/where Psystar might be, the EFI software on which it all hinges is being used illegally (acording to the author of EFI): http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/04/16/hacker_slams_mac_cloner/
http://netkas.org/?p=62
I live in Miami, FL in the vicinity of 10481 NW 28th St, Miami, FL 33172.
The address in question is in Doral, Florida a recently incorporated city in north west Miami-Dade county. This part of Doral is zoned for light industrial/commercial. This particular plot sits between a cemetery and the Florida Turnpike. Not far west are the everglades. There are homes to the north and further to the east of this section but this address is most definitely in a commercial area. I can't vouch for Psystar but the address is valid.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE...
Here is the whois:
Registrant: Make this info private
RP
3401 SW 104 CT
Miami, FL 33165
US
Domain Name: PSYSTAR.COM
Promote your business to millions of viewers for only $1 a month!
Learn how you can get an Enhanced Business Listing here for your domain name.
Learn More
Administrative Contact , Technical Contact :
Pedraza, Rodolfo
rp@PSYSTAR.COM
3401 SW 104 CT
Miami, FL 33165
US
Phone: 3053566666
Fax: 3053575555
Record expires on 13-Jan-2009
Record created on 13-Jan-2000
Database last updated on 25-Feb-2008
Domain servers in listed order: Manage DNS
NS01.DFO.CC 208.68.239.67
NS02.DFO.CC 208.68.239.67
Show underlying registry data for this record
Current Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
IP Address: 208.68.239.66 (ARIN & RIPE IP search)
IP Location: US(UNITED STATES)-FLORIDA-HOLLYWOOD
Record Type: Domain Name
Server Type: Apache 2
Lock Status: clientTransferProhibited
Web Site Status: Active
DMOZ no listings
Y! Directory: see listings
Secure: No
E-commerce: No
Traffic Ranking: Not available
Data as of: 25-Feb-2008
mathue wrote:
> Interesting, one of the wayback archives September 23rd,
> 2001 mentions Razor FX in its source.
Interesting indeed. However, I guess they could have seen a
page design they liked and reworked it for their own
purposes.
How did you find that page, by the way? I can't get Google to
omit recent mentions of "psystar", and there are rather a lot
of those! Some sort of by-date search would be nice.
I must say, this sleuthing is quite enjoyable.
Prior disclaimer: I am NOT affiliated with Psystar in ANY shape way or form.
In the but wait there's more column:
The address listed by Miamidude for the registration of psystar.com is a residential area just south and east of Florida International University. It's rather middle-middle to upper-middle class neighborhood in the glenvar heights area of what would be classified as Westchester to us Miamians.
The original address is located in the Killian Pines area of Miami just south of the Kendall campus of Miami Dade College, and as another poster noted, the "official" office addresses are located in an area LONG KNOWN as a commercial zone and actually is just north of the Free Trade Zone for importers and exporters. Choosing that location is not altogether unwise because of it's proximity to the FEDEX, UPS and DHL hubs next to the MIA ( Miami International Airport ).
After having spoken to a rather nice young lady ( on my VERY FIRST attempt at reaching someone ), they say systems will be shipped 7-10 business days after an order is placed.
Now, after reading this and other articles, I have to do a little forehead bonking to a few people....
A) Charles....where do you think Apple started ? Where do YOU think Alienware...a company sold to Dell for over 400 Million just last year, started ( Careful, not only is the answer to the first question, publicly documented ; but I PERSONALLY know the answer to the second, because I helped build, or more specifically rebuild Alienware PC serial #'s 3 & 4 over 10 years ago ). The answer: the owner's garage.
B) NetKa$...apparently it's not completely established that he himself holds the moral high ground, as it's apparently come into question if he himself may not have given "props" to others who in some fashion contributed to the EFI emulator. You can't whine if you don't hold the "moral high ground".
C) To those who posted addresses ( publicly available as they might be )....of note that not too long ago, some clown posted someone's address on Craigslist here in the US, only to have someone else summarily break into their house ( and if I'm not mistaken someone ended up hurt or murdered, though I could be wrong on that ). I mention this only insofar as that with all the "hatin'" going on about Psystar, should something...befall someone, and it come back to finding a RESIDENTIAL address posted here as a lead, well, use your discretion to lead you to an answer.
That being said, I'm left with...
D) Whomever the owner of Psystar is. Dude, total bonehead move by not getting the "right" address up on your website from the get go. However, I have to give you a partial "atta boy" for actually responding to the open source folks and posting a response and attribution to Netka$ ( natch ), and others.
Then again.....circumventing the EULA of software via software means, and then complaining because your open work ( which may not have been entirely on your own, and not attributed to those others as well ) was used in marketing a commercial product. Which begs the question......
What would be the difference between that, and someone offering to install Linux for you on a box, and installing the ATI ( non-open source ) display driver for you on Vanilla Ubuntu ? They're not, charging for EFI, to the best of my knowledge. At least I didn't see ANYTHING on the website to that effect. Oh, you must mean actually installing Leopard on the box for you. What ? Never taken a computer to Geek Quads or FirePooched ? They don't install software for free, why would one expect that this company would ?
All that aside.....I will grant Charles ONE thing. Would you buy a computer from a small company run out of a warehouse, claiming this or that ? Answer: hundreds of people do it EVERY DAY. Perhaps not with all this fanfare. But there are hundreds, if not thousands, of small computer companies out there peddling their wares in just the same way. Under the radar for sure, but they're out there. I know, it's how I helped put myself through college many years ago.
All in all, this was a botched "market intro". Could've been handled a lot better. Savior to all those wishing to pay less for access to OS X ? Probably not, but then again, Apple Marketing is probably smiling for all the free press and buzz about how desirable their baby is....they can hear their options maturing nicely after every single post showing up here, and every other blog commenting on this.
Brilliant, SteveJ, simply brilliant.
@marcelol: "After having spoken to a rather nice young lady ( on my VERY FIRST attempt at reaching someone ), they say systems will be shipped 7-10 business days after an order is placed."
You place the order and tell us how things go, then.
"Charles....where do you think Apple started ? Where do YOU think Alienware...a company sold to Dell for over 400 Million just last year, started ( Careful, not only is the answer to the first question, publicly documented ; but I PERSONALLY know the answer to the second, because I helped build, or more specifically rebuild Alienware PC serial #'s 3 & 4 over 10 years ago ). The answer: the owner's garage."
True. But none of Alienware, Dell or Apple said they had all the other experience and then lurched into a completely new area that *nobody else* does. As I pointed out above.
"C) To those who posted addresses ( publicly available as they might be )"
On the company's website, actually, under "contact us", with phone numbers. They're material to the story. We didn't dig them out.
"What would be the difference between that, and someone offering to install Linux for you on a box, and installing the ATI ( non-open source ) display driver for you on Vanilla Ubuntu ?"
TTBOMK (figure it out), that wouldn't break EULAs everywhere, but it hardly matters. What if I installed Windows on my television? Tell you what - I'll do that now, and ship it. Hacked Windows. Buy them now.
"All that aside.....I will grant Charles ONE thing. Would you buy a computer from a small company run out of a warehouse, claiming this or that ? Answer: hundreds of people do it EVERY DAY."
Yes, but computers that are already well inside the law, feasible to build, and done by loads of other people. I went to a Mac repair company today. They aren't thinking about making Mac clones. They're too busy doing normal, easily demonstrably legal, profitable stuff.
"but then again, Apple Marketing is probably smiling for all the free press and buzz about how desirable their baby is..."
I think their silence speaks huge amounts. If these machines appear, then they will sue them.
This is an interesting page from www.psystar.com back in 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20010408035808/www.psystar.com/services.html
it appears Psystar did Web Design and Hosting. The full search results from the Wayback Machine is here: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.psystar.com/
@Charles:
"You place the order and tell us how things go, then."
Who said anything about that I would order one, I certainly didn't. You're the journalist, you do the guinea pigging and report back !
"True. But none of Alienware, Dell or Apple said they had all the other experience and then lurched into a completely new area that *nobody else* does. As I pointed out above."
Too right...I spot you the point.
On the company's website, actually, under "contact us", with phone numbers. They're material to the story. We didn't dig them out.
The office address and phone number, true. The home address, the digging out the information from the Miami-Dade property appraisers office....ennngh..that's a reeeal stretch to be relevant, let's start posting every company executives personal address ( even if it was posted as a business address...you yourself (( that's probably not proper grammar )) said it was a residential neighborhood. Heck, I immediately picked up what neighborhood that was because it's less than a mile from my own domicile. I drive by it almost every day. Wait, that was perhaps too much information about myself...scratch that.
"TTBOMK (figure it out), that wouldn't break EULAs everywhere, but it hardly matters. What if I installed Windows on my television? Tell you what - I'll do that now, and ship it. Hacked Windows. Buy them now."
Eeeengh, yet again, not making an apples to apples comparison there, more like peaches to apricots.
"Yes, but computers that are already well inside the law, feasible to build, and done by loads of other people. I went to a Mac repair company today. They aren't thinking about making Mac clones. They're too busy doing normal, easily demonstrably legal, profitable stuff."
Of course they aren't thinking about making Mac clones, they're making too much money selling the real thing at 32% mark up ( the fewer and fewer independent Mac marketers there are every day...I think there's only ONE in all of Miami...Computer Village ). Not to mention making their money on maintaining all the older one's still out there and kicking.....of course they don't have time to think about making Mac clones.
"I think their silence speaks huge amounts. If these machines appear, then they will sue them."
Oh, absolutely. One only has to look back at what happened with the Brazilian Mac Clone folks and what happened there. Sure they kept on sputtering for a while, but eventually it became a moot point. What's different here, is that if Apple sues them, why not go after the folks making the EFI emulator...they are, after all, subordining that activity. The whole OSX86 community de-facto fosters it by it's very efforts in making it possible to boot OS X via the EFI emulator. So, what I've seen some people post is very true. If they go after Psystar, who could ARGUE in court that, "well, we really only intended to provide a service that people could simply go out an do themselves, even if it was more trouble for them", what's to stop Apple from shutting down NetKas or the OSX86 altogether. The answer is...nothing. Because at that point, Apple could argue that here we have a clear indication of what their efforts subordine ( I think that's the proper spelling ). The fact that the EFI emulator is even out there, is what fosters this sort of pursuit in breaking their EULA. And that, is no different an argument than the recording companies have made about things like the software from DVDJon(?). Well, of course, no one's tried to go out and make a commercial product from his work
Oh, that's right, someone apparently is.....Hmmm.
Just the same, Charles, it'll be interesting to drive by their tomorrow morning and see if there are news trucks parked across the street or something. Or lawyers hiding the bushes.
And for the record, that street is rather heavily trafficked in the mornings and evenings as a thoroughfare for commuters going to work/coming home in the mornings/evenings. Maybe I'll take a different route tomorrow, wouldn't want to get caught up in any silly goings on.
And they moved yet again ..
PsyStar Corporation
10475 NW 28th St
Miami, FL 33172
I think we have ourselves a little hacker (pronounced: script kiddie) who is trying to capitalize on the the UpHuck releases of OS X (10.4 and 10.5).
Unless he's just retarded and can't seem to remember his real address, I think this person should be tracked down and made an example of by public execution.
Since Psystar keeps changing their address, and the only "business" address so far is actually a t-shirt printing company. Published phone and FAX numbers are in different cities (North Miami & Miami). The phone book listing for Rodolfo Pedraza (Psystar head honcho) is 16411 SW 82nd Ave., Miami, a non-existent address, in accordance with the Miami/Dade tax office. These facts along with the April time factor makes me believe this a an "April Fools" joke and guess what??? I'M NOT THE FOOL!!! The idiots keep arguing about who has the best operating system http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/04/openmac-a-poor.html?cid=111019758#comment-111019758, I'll keep laughing. BTW, got 5 Apples & 3 Windows boxes here, I KNOW which ones operate better...
Tom's Hardware managed to get the president of Psystar on the phone and he had some pretty interesting things to say re Apple. Apparently they're "Going to do it whether Steve Jobs likes it or not". He also said that they're just trying to help Steve Jobs make money because he doesn't make enough.
I wanted to write on one of these sites just to clear some peoples heads. I personally know both of the owners of the company. They have been working on computers for many years both of them have independent companies aside from Psystar. The clients range from well known companies to normal house calls. They do everything and anything that has to do with computers. To say the least the last thing they are out to do is ruin the reputation they have built over many years by scamming people for a $399 desktop. The company is legit and the owners are very professional. The idea of selling better computers with a mac operating system at much better prices is genius. If you think otherwise your an idiot. Unless Mac decides to do something about the product they are selling I don't see why it would be a big deal. This could be a possibility of opening doors to other companies and helping who else but YOU the consumer. I would think twice before gossiping.
clonesister:
You say "the owners are very professional". But as shown here and elsewhere, they've been doing some very unprofessional things, like changing their addresses several times, etc. If they really have a product, even if it's just to resell low-cost PCs on which they've installed OS X and EFI v8 to make it work on the PC, then they're off to a bad launch, and not entirely due to the observations by others.
re the link between psystar.com and razorfx.com there certainly seems to be a link between these two domains.
However, I believe there has been a mistake with reference to razor fx which I believe operated from razorfx.net and can find no link between razorx.net and razorfx.com or psystar.com