While it is possible or even likely that Psystar’s Open Computer is a hoax or scam, that fact remains that there is both an active hobbyist community that has developed the means to install Mac OS X on generic PC hardware and that this ability fills a gap in Apple’s hardware line.
The initial interest in the Open Computer (initially the OpenMac) stemmed from the fact that it’s specs were considerable more powerful than the closest Apple equivalent for much less money. Macworld noted:
The basic $399 configuration for the Open Computer is a 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 Processor; 2GB of DDR2 667 memory; Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics; 20x DVD+/-R SATA drive that is Lightscribe-capable; and 4 rear USB Ports. Apple’s cheapest desktop computer is the Mac mini, which comes with a 1.83GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; 1GB memory; and an 80GB hard drive. That configuration costs $599.
So the Open Computer clearly has the Mac mini beat on price and capability. With a few upgrades it could fill a gap in Apple’s hardware lineup – the lack of a mid-range expandable computer positioned between the low-end non-expandable Mac mini and iMac and the high-end, expandable Mac Pro.
To show the means by which a generic PC could fill this gap, Rob Griffiths of Macworld built a Quad Core PC with 4GB of RAM, NVIDIA 8800GT video card and 500 GB hard drive for $982. With a EULA breaking Mac OS X install this “Frankenmac” was on par with a much more expensive Mac Pro and beat it on gaming benchmarks before being changed to Windows gaming system.
Overall the Psystar saga shows that Macs are expensive, there is a hole in Apple’s hardware line-up and people suddenly like highly restrictive EULAs provided they are from Apple.