Mastodawn

Engineering #PortableElectronics that are in constant contact with a user's skin is NOT trivial and the #SteamDeck certainly started it's development way before the #NintendoSwitch or #GPDwin were announced.

Valve Steam Deck Secrets: Engineering & Design of Memory, PCB Layout, and Thermals

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Like the #SteamDeck propably got started propably before the #SmachZ got announced...

STEAM DECK: The Handheld PC Has Finally Arrived

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For those who don't remember: #SmachZ was that scammy #Portable #SteamMachine running off a #Tablet-PC #IntelAtom SoC.

SMACH Z EXPOSED!! $652,909 SCAM?

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So yeah, #Valve really nails the #meme from ages ago:

@kkarhan Yeah, one of those rare cases where a for-profit company is *more* ethical than its CEO.

@kkarhan (not that that says much)

@StarkRG nodds in agreement...

At least #Valve knows how to "read the room" and so far they delivered on their promises.

@kkarhan The Frame (stupid name, by the way) is what I'm really interested in. I've got an Index and quite like it so I might not actually end up getting one. Sadly the last time I used it, there was still about 100-200 ms of lag on Linux which isn't awful, but is still noticeable. The Frame's features might make that less of a problem, though.

@StarkRG Granted, #Valve does address these things and also worked towards making it a better "standalone #VR system" than the #OculusQuest by packing in a lot of power and making it run #SteamOS.

And I'm shure games like #BeatSaber will just run perfectly smooth on it!

@kkarhan Really, the main thing I don't like about Valve is that you don't own the games you "purchase", they can yank your access at any time, or change their service agreement to something unconscionable and force you to choose between your games or your morals. I don't like that they have an almost total monopoly on game distribution, which has a bad effect on game prices and development. They are still relatively benign when compared to other megacorps.

@kkarhan That is to say, given the choice, I wish they were better, but they're *way* better than Disney, Amazon, Google, Apple, etc. For the moment they also seem better than Mozilla, which, just a few years ago, isn't something I'd have thought I'd say.

@StarkRG nodds in agreement...

All those corpos and even "#NonProfit" #Mozilla need to fucking step up their game!...

@StarkRG Unlike #Microsoft with #XboxOne, #Valve stayed lazer-focussed...

60 Minutes That Destroyed Xbox’s Empire

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@StarkRG Or as we know from #GabeN's own words:

Piracy is always a service problem, not a pricing problem!

And he stood correct, as #FamilySharing on #Steam "just works" almost as nicely as PS4 disc-based games!

Official PlayStation Used Game Instructional Video

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@StarkRG And also #SinglePlayer #games can actually be played #offline and people can actually use #Steam for #IndieGames even on #EDGEland-style throttled, mobile Internet unlike the #XboxOne at launch...

Basically #Valve knows their customers VERY WELL and isn't friendly because of their "goodness of their own hearts" but because they need the goodwill of their #customers more than customers or #developers need Steam.

Similarly #SteamOS didn't get started because Valve "likes" #OpenSoure but because they saw #Windows8Bing and #Windows10S and realized that #Microsoft and #Apple trying to re-monopolize #SoftwareDistribution is an existential threat to the Company and they'll have to adapt or face extinction.

Don Mattrick No Internet? Buy a 360 LOL E3 2013

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFJb3CzPso0&t=660s

Nov 19

@StarkRG In the end, #Valve treats #consumers great, #employees above average and #developers like shit:

How Steam Became The Only Good Monopoly In Existence

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@kkarhan I'd like someone who actually understands what profit is explain it to me because, from where I sit, it seems like a pointless concept. Profit is what remains after you've paid your taxes, employees, vendors/utilities, insurance, made your loan repayments, and invested back in the company to grow. What's the point, then, of what remains? Oh, for paying dividends to investors? How are *they* contributing? If they do, then they can be paid as employees and we're back to "why profit?"

Nov 19

@StarkRG Well, that really depends on the setup.

With "#PublicCorporations", shareholders essentialy 'gamble' aka. "#invest" into a company under the theoretical risk of loosing their entire investments.

#dividends basically act in lieu of a #loan with fixed payment plan: If the comoany runs well, those who put money into it get paid accordingly for basically having given said company a interest-free loan.

OFC #Investors expect their #Investment in the form of #shares to gain value over time instead so if they "cashout" (regardless if selling to someone else or a stck-buyback program of said #corporation to reduce shares in circulation & shareholders), so that's the pressure to make shure "#LineGoesUp!" and that works solely off #vibes with quarterly and annual numbers changing the mood...

This is basically how any stock-based company works regardless if the biggest 24/7 globally traded GAFAM or the smallest pennystock sold via pink slips.

#NotFinancialAdvice

@kkarhan Sure, but, since profit inevitably means screwing someone over, wouldn't a regular loan scheme work better? It's still a gamble (because loan repayments are, or should be, at the bottom of the repayment priority list when companies go bust), but it's less of a risk for the ones giving the loans, and everyone's clear on what payments happen, when, and for how long.

@StarkRG That really depends om the regulators:

#Loans usually are done out of a position of confidence and they usually require #collateral to go against: Real Estate, Vehicles, Income that is contractually due,...

Whereas #Shareholding also means getting control in return for not having any actual collateral (I mean, look at #NSAbook, they don't have anything they could.offer as collateral!)…

So the idea is a #gamble: 999 of 1000 it'll be a loss but the 1 where one was able to pre-seed just right can get a billion dollar ROI at #GoingPublic.

So thw perverse incentives and risk/reward calculus is going to push that.

#NotFinancialAdvice

@kkarhan Loans definitely don't usually require collateral, only secured loans use collateral. Home loans, car loans, and pawn loans are examples. Business loans are usually unsecured, which is what makes it a risk, a mitigated, calculated risk, but a risk. Credit cards are also a kind of unsecured loan. If you can't pay, they sell the loans at considerable loss to collection agencies who take on the much higher risk. Which is why they're so relentless, if they don't collect, they get nothing.