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Are we the baddies?

(geohot.github.io)
692 points AndrewSwift | 4 comments | 06 Jul 25 05:36 UTC | HN request time: 0.791s | source
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mindwok ◴[06 Jul 25 07:15 UTC] No.44478544[source]▶
What the open web did for discoverability of businesses, we need to invent again for actual engagement with the businesses.

Uber, Booking.com, AirBnB, ClassPass, Steam, DoorDash - these winner take all middle-men rent seeking tech behemoths are bad for society and are hostile to consumers and the businesses that rely on them.

Let's decentralise this shit.

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aydyn ◴[06 Jul 25 07:41 UTC] No.44478655[source]▶
Everything except for steam, one of the few to do it right. Of course they arent perfect as nobody is, but in general they treat developers right, they treat customers right. Theres no personalized surge prices or other AI BS, and they dont ban randomly like google. If you buy a game on steam, you own it for real.
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1. alextingle ◴[06 Jul 25 08:17 UTC] No.44478811[source]▶
> If you buy a game on steam, you own it for real.

How so? If Steam goes away, then so does your game. That's not ownership.

Just because they have carefully and honestly fostered a lot of trust in their game rental service, doesn't make it not a game rental service.

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2. aydyn ◴[06 Jul 25 17:31 UTC] No.44482540[source]▶
If Steam itself goes bankrupt, Gabe himself said you'll still retain access to your games.1 Yes its a non-legally binding promise, but Steam has earned that trust.

Also Steam isn't going away, so for these reasons that is "how so".

1. https://web.archive.org/web/20100605062932/http://forums.ste...

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3. greyface- ◴[06 Jul 25 17:39 UTC] No.44482601[source]▶
If Steam itself goes bankrupt, that decision is not up to Steam, it's up to its creditors and the bankruptcy court. It's not a credible promise for any US corporation to make, regardless of its trustworthiness.
4. account42 ◴[07 Jul 25 11:19 UTC] No.44489062[source]▶
Ah cool, so an alleged promise made to one user makes it all OK and we should stop worrying and just buy more.

Even if Gaben "money drives the community" Newell did make that promise and was sincere, he's going to be gone in a couple of decades at most and likely not in control of Valve before that.