A lot of people seem to be confused and under the impression that it is okay to separate the hardware and the Apple operating system. If they assume this, it makes their arguments so much easier to win. But it is completely false.
Fact, they are sold as a solution (hardware + operating system).
Fact, the boxed version of the OS is for existing users of OS X (Apple has said this numerous times).
Yep, it's very clearly illegal to do so. This ruling affirms the validity of the EULA of OS X, which does completely and entirely back up those two facts.
When you come and take 1/2 or 1/3 or 1/4 of the deal and give money to another vendor for the other 1/2, 2/3 or 3/4 -- then you are in fact hurting Apple.
This is hard to argue, and it has to do with economies of scale.
Software is not free to make. OS X represents a multimillion dollar investment- thousands and thousands of hours paid for hardware to test, coders, usability surveys, etc.
The unique thing about software is that copies of it are, physically, very cheap to make. A boxed copy of Snow Leopard is worth ~$2 in physical materials (tops). Does this mean that Snow Leopard is worth $2 to Apple? Definitely not.
How much that "extra copy" represents is a point of debate that is pretty much impossible to agree on. You provide bandwidth, patches, improvements, etc. to a group of users who did not- from Apple's standpoint- pay fully for the OS. That's not to say that those costs could be less than what they make on a boxed copy of Snow Leopard- just that they are costs that Apple is less reimbursed for.
The bigger threat (this is an opinion) is that the Mac brand is devalued. Mac owners take pride in paying a premium for what they believe to be a premium computer- a combination of hardware and software that is, in their opinion, superior.
Hackintoshes cheapen that image, and the perception of the brand. Since they rely on kernel modifications by a third party, and unsupported hardware, their instability has the potential to hurt the brand (when you see someone posting about an OS X error online, they usually don't volunteer that it is a hackintosh).
It doesn't matter that your friend has 1 or 50 Mac's that are all legal.
Indeed. They represent a problem Apple knows well. If hackintoshing becomes more than a 1-in-50 thing, less people buy Macs (which support the investment in the OS to a greater extent) and more Hackintosh. Apple tried making legal clones- and any Mac (or tech knowledgeable person) knows how badly that wound up for Apple
Apple is rational. They know that they will never kill all piracy. However, you can contain it. Instead of having people selling boxed machines, preconfigured with your OS, people have to go to sketchy sites, download things, modify files, pick the right hardware, etc.- so you limit the impact. And Apple effectively did that by winning this case against Psystar.
Just because they don't offer a netbook like he wanted, doesn't mean he can do it.
Of course not. Not legally, anyways
It doesn't matter that he would have left Apple all together, we are not talking total dollars lost or saved, we are talking about whether what he did deprived Apple of profit. Yes, it did. Simple.
This is one area that I will continue to disagree with you on, for I am a very technical/definition oriented person. So forgive me here
The two scenarios are:
- He can hackintosh.
Result: He buys a $30 copy of Snow Leopard. Apple gets a profit a little under $30 (minus materials) immediately.. Other support costs exist over time, which reduce this profit by an amount that would be difficult, at best, to calculate.
- He cannot hackintosh successfullly, and installs an alternative operating system on hardware from a non-Apple company.
Result: He purchases Windows or downloads Linux/Unix of some form. Apple gets no profit.
In his instance, Apple may have made a profit (net income- assuming that the cost of the physical media, the support costs, and any and all taxes are less than $30). Apple would have made no profit in the other case (in this particular instance).
In my opinion, it's exceedingly unlikely that Apple did not make a profit in this instance. I won't deny the possibility, but at the same time, he does not get any support from Apple, he doesn't get help at the genius bar, etc., so support costs are significantly reduced.
At the same time, I won't deny that it is impossible that Apple is deprived of
profit by some hackintosh sales. I would guess that many people who bought Psystar computers would have purchased Macs if they did not have that alternative. In his particular scenario, this isn't the case.
I understand he's your friend and you may be caught up in the "circumstances", but those have absolutely no relevance on the end result.
Forgive me- I'm having trouble figuring out what you're trying to say here
If you're talking about the legality, or this case... nope. We have no relevance on the end result. The EULA is legal, he is breaking copyright law by installing Mac OS on a non-Apple PC, and Apple can push out an update modifies the bootloader to give him the middle finger. (I'm sure Apple would do it metaphorically

)
If you're talking about Apple being denied a profit... see above. That's my take on it. In his case, it's exceedingly unlikely Apple was denied a profit. In many others, I'm sure they are.
The final and end result; he is using OS X on hardware that was not purchased along with the operating system.
Absolutely true.
If this caused him to drop OS X completely, this is fine and normal. But it isn't rationalization nor reasoning to do what he did.
I'm explaining his logic and rationalization on the "Is it right to hackintosh" part. As far as the technical specifics of whether or not Apple is denied a profit- that seems clearer to me. Just because you think something is right does not make it legal, or ethical, to do so.
And I to appreciate your insight. Maybe some good comes from it when people can see the intimate details of both sides of the argument.
Your arguments are well-reasoned and well-put. It's nice. Not only because it is thought provoking, but because many arguments on the internet descend into something much more primitive
