TightWind is written by Kyle Baxter. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

The Psystar comedy-fest continues, except today it isn’t Psystar causing laughs — it’s the exquisitely-designed ITWorld website. Don Reisinger wrote a lovely piece today arguing that “small, defiant” Psystar will force Apple to license OS X. I do believe this qualifies for my esteemed idiocracy of the week award, and the week has barely even begun. Congratulations, Don.

Let’s deconstruct Reisinger’s article. He opens:

Last weekend, a small, defiant company called Psystar unleashed an opening salvo as it announced (and started selling) the Open Computer – its own desktop running Mac OS X Leopard.

(Emphasis mine.)

He begins by painting Psystar as some kind of heroic startup. They are not only “defiant,” but they have “unleashed an opening salvo,” boldly going where no one has gone before, challenging the evil Apple empire and its control over OS X. You can almost hear the John Williams soundtrack.

Let’s remember what “Psystar” is. Psystar is a company that has changed its address more times than I can keep up with in a week and whose credit card processing account was canceled because Psystar lied about precisely what their business is. Psystar is a company that is building computers from off the shelf parts and profiting by re-selling a product — OS X — that they agreed not to install on non-Macs, and have no right to sell.

And that’s the best case scenario — so far, there has been no proof that they have shipped any of these computers.

Reisinger makes his position clear here with the first paragraph — he has no intentions of being objective. Instead, he thinks Apple is evil for selling their own OS on their own computers, rather than giving it to competitors. These arguments always amuse me — that other companies and individuals have a right to take OS X, even though Apple has spent years and tens of millions of dollars, if not more, developing OS X.

I wonder if Reisinger would be willing to provide me with his hard-earned property. Perhaps his TV? All I have is a 17″ TV, and it just isn’t fair that rich people like Don have a HDTV while I suffer. You know, I have a right to it. I am going to just take it.

Perhaps Don would call me “defiant,” too.

If nothing else, Psystar’s impending martyrdom will blaze the path for countless other companies that believe they can stand up to Apple. And who can blame them? Steve Jobs’ closed-off policy is draconian at best and as Mac OS X continues to gain popularity, even more companies will crop up trying to do the same thing as Psystar.

Forgive me, but I have a problem calling an almost fraudulent company a martyr, and phrasing what Psystar is doing as “standing up” to Apple. But I suppose the ends of trashing Apple justify the means for our friend Don.

Somewhat amusingly, he calls Apple’s integration model a policy that “worked ten years ago,” but doesn’t today. Uhm. Don… Psst… A little history-refresh for you: Apple licensed the Mac OS, you know, just a bit more than yen years ago, and it almost killed the company. Jobs ended that policy, which has subsequently revived Apple. And this guy is published?

Reisinger calls Apple’s integrated hardware-software model draconian, but offers no real justification as to why Apple is wrong in doing so. He doesn’t point out that customers, judging by Apple’s incredible Mac sales, love the benefits of Apple’s integration: no drivers to worry about, and everything works how it is supposed to. As mundane as that sounds, for users whose computer experiences are almost defined by dealing with installing drivers or screwing around with hardware to get it to work properly with Windows, Apple’s model is like a gift from heaven.

No, he doesn’t point that out. Instead, Reisinger states that Jobs and his “cronies” (don’t you just love his objectivism?) should license OS X because companies are going to install it on their PCs anyway.

Yes, some excellent logic there. I should license my product to you because you’re going to steal it anyway? Would you like to beat me with a baseball bat, too?

Just when you thought Reisinger couldn’t possibly top himself, he goes right ahead and does it with this gem:

Apple is doing well without its computer business and I simply don’t see why licensing Mac OS X would really have that big of an impact on its sales. After all, don’t most people love Apple designs more than anything else? Sure, the operating system is nice, but once that advantage is gone, Apple still can cling on to the beauty of its products.

If all people give a shit about is Apple’s hardware design, Don, why are you worked up in such a frenzy about forcing Apple to license OS X? Oh, that’s right, because you know that the Mac’s integrated hardware and software, which allows Apple to create an experience for its users rather than just another computer, is Apple’s key to success.

Judging by Reisinger’s brazen stupidity in this article, it’s obvious what his intention is. Reisinger has no idealistic interest really in “opening” OS X to the masses. No — he just wants to see Apple give up its core reason for existing, and become another Dell.

Psystar just happens to fit his agenda today, so now they’re the heroes.

Cross posted at my Newsvine Column