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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 7th, 2023

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  • So, kinda. “Steam Machines” was the old initiative from 2013(?). The idea was to build a coalition of 3rd party machines with a branding and hardware guidelines for Asus, Acer, etc to build a ton of console-likes. Basically trying to replicate the PC market of diverse hardware from a bunch of OEMs to create a new market segment in the console space.

    The difference here is that Valve is allegedly building a console themselves, fully 1st party with their own hardware and software, like they did with the Steam Deck. I imagine if this one has enough market traction (as determined by Valve), they’ll iterate on the software hard for a couple of years (and possibly the controller, too), then expand with guidelines for OEMs to make their own versions of the console using SteamOS. Basically, just follow the Steam Deck playbook and hope it works like last time.











  • Under pre-computer conditions, ideally a competitor would disrupt the market with some novel cost saving technique, more efficient processes, or some other way to stand out from the crowd and claw consumers away from the Big Thing.

    Unfortunately, nowadays with computer stuff, it’s virtually impossible to build new or novel features that the Big Thing can’t immediately (or very quickly) copy and implement before the little guy can meaningfully establish themselves.

    At this point… it comes down to the people. Nebula popped off not because they had a rad new feature or player, but because they had a certain target audience where those types of creators were releasing content there first, well before posting on YouTube. Same for Dropout. And because both of those endeavors aren’t subject to the same business model pressures as YouTube, they’re liable to only get better over time.

    I don’t know how you do a social media site with that strategy though. Lemmy is the best I’ve experienced, but even this isn’t without its drawbacks.