Actually, and somewhat counter-intuitively, in poor economic times, people generally buy either because of an immediate need, or because of the perceived quality and value of a product.  People don't buy cheap because they know they won't be able to afford to replace it.  Instead, people tend to invest the small amount extra to ensure that they get something that will last.

Apple software is the only part of an apple that is superior.   Their hardware is now just modified pc hard ware and made by the same manufacturers that make pc hardware.   I can build a pc desktop that is far superior then the apple when it comes to hardware, and now I can run Mac OS on it and have the best of both worlds.   And at a cost that is less then half the cost of the apple branded model.

     Apple does inflate the cost of their hardware due to their license agreement of their software.   Some people will say they are charging extra for "an experience".   I honestly do not feel that there is any extravigant, or signifigant enough of an experience to justify the unrealistic prices that apple charges.  If Psystar wins this case, Apple will be forced to lower their prices of their hardware so that people en masse can actually afford them.  And when that happens, more customers will buy apple over the cloned models and Apple will build up a much broader customer base.  And for those who still purchase the cloned model, Apple will still make money off of the sales of their OS.

    Apple's business model they are fighting so hard to protect was started in a time when computer hardware was so much more expensive to manufacture, and their cometition was pumping out the hardware at a price that apple could not match, and thus began losing business.   Now that Apple really does not manufacture much of their own hardware and have premium top class discounts on their hardware... they can afford to allow some competition.

     Competition never hurt the consumer, and has always benefited the product via ingenuity, change and progress.

     As long as apple keeps their prices unrealistically high when it comes to the average household on lower middle class to middle class income... People will continue to find ways to run their software on pc hardware.

But that is their right to fight to keep a business model that doesnt truly benefit them anylonger.

I don't think most people realize what the consequences of this are. If apple loses, it won't mean more consumer choice. It might mean less. Apple will just likely stop selling full copies of OS/X. No one can force them to sell the product. It will hurt mac users more than anyone  else, but apple can always just go to upgrade cds and HP style recovery disks, where disks only work with the model of computer purchased and ship with the computer purchase.  Apple has already once nearly gone bankrupt in 1990s when they opened their liscense to open market.

Apple will lose!

They sell a box retail = I can install it on anything i want, just like Windows!

They no longer make their own proprietary hardware, so they cant say they are being infringed upon in that respect...they use what everyone else is capable of using... all they did was buy a bunch of parts, install them in a box and add their operating system.

They lost this case when they switched to an open hardware platform and even longer ago when they decided to sell the operating system separate from the hardware.

They will lose this case .. PSystar will continue... and more companies will sprout up selling OSx on any hardware. The only thing Apple will do is start charging more for the retail box set... which it should have done long ago. That i dont mind.

Even if by some miracle (pay-offs) Psystar loses, Apple still loses since the know how and hacks will continue... the days of greed are over... more people are catching on to the stupidity of over paying for the sake of a name.