It's a Mac Netbook, but Not from Apple

[Editor's Note: In a departure from form, I will mostly blog shorter posts this week. It's a stylistic experiment; please offer feedback in comments or by e-mail.]

That's sure to send Apple lawyers into a tizzy. The question: When is an enthusiast just that, or instead an intellectual property pirate? Whether or not the imitation product is sold or personally used should be the answer. But it probably won't be.

Macrumors has a post about an apparently home-built "unofficial" MacBook nano with a link to Flickr gallery. It's hard to believe that this isn't a real Apple-branded netbook, because the workmanship is so good. A second gallery shows the transformation: From MSI netbook to MacBook nano. In fact, even as I'm writing this post, more pics are appearing on the Flickr user's page.

The transformation is quite amazing to see. Removal of the MSI logo, replaced with Apple logo and swapping out some keys for those found on Apple laptops. Since I don't read Chinese, I can't tell if these are works of love or works for sale.

Works for sale would violate Apple intellectual property rights. Technically, so would works of love. But Apple shouldn't be in the business of suing people that love its brand. On the other hand, Apple wouldn't want to encourage a cottage industry of fake Mac netbooks. What if other people take up the same labor of love? Companies such as Apple need to love enthusiasts, because they promote the brand, the products. This instance is unusual, however, because the makeover is a MSI product. So I'm mixed minds about whether Apple should lay off or lay it on heavy.

Netbooks are hot right now; maybe Apple should take this enthusiasts handiwork as a tickler. By the way, the config on the fake Mac netbook: 1.6GHz Intel Atom processor, 10.2-inch display (1024 x 600 resolution), 2GB of RAM, 320GB hard drive and Windows XP Pro and Mac OS X 10.5.5

[Please send your tips or rumors to watchtips at live.com].

Posted by Joe Wilcox on November 11, 2008 1:24 PM