Note: I am NOT arguing you cannot general computing stuff with it. I am arguing that anyone buying Steam Frame does not with the intention to do that only. Most likely anyone purchasing Steam Frame wants to play virtual reality games on Steam. Steam Frame is NOT a perfect candidate for wide variety of uses cases.
A mobile device you put on your head, with ARM architecture is not the perfect device to do general computing only. Anyone buying a Steam Machine could happily ignore the Steam store and do normal PC stuff with it. So that’s why Valve did not subsidize the price. But Steam Frame is not like that. If someone wants to do general computing ONLY, then this is not a device for it. It would be cumbersome to work with, probably underpowered for its price and in general the CPU architecture is not ideal for that.
Compare this to Steam Machine. If the Machine was subsidized by Valve, then it would be cheaper than a comparable PC. In that case any company or other users would buy it to use it without Steam. In which case Valve would lose money on every single hardware.
Honestly, a GrapheneOS or LineageOS phone is a perfectly fine general purpose PC (excluding OEM android because fuck Google Play Services). You can plug it into a keyboard and monitor, enable desktop mode, and use it like a PC. ARM is more than usable for basically all the software most people would ever want to run. The Steam Frame will probably be significantly more powerful than a Google Pixel or whatever, and therefore even more usable.
Nobody argues it isn’t. I think the Steam Frame would fall into a category of Steam Deck, which is even more of a general purpose computer. That’s why it was so cheap, because most people buying it end up playing games on Steam and Valve will profit. But with Steam Machine in example Valve could not compete on price, otherwise they would lose money on each sold Machine without anyone need to use the Steam store.
There is a huge difference of specialized hardware and software like Steam Frame and Steam Deck, compared to a general desktop PC like a Steam Machine.
Note: I am NOT arguing you cannot general computing stuff with it. I am arguing that anyone buying Steam Frame does not with the intention to do that only. Most likely anyone purchasing Steam Frame wants to play virtual reality games on Steam. Steam Frame is NOT a perfect candidate for wide variety of uses cases.
A mobile device you put on your head, with ARM architecture is not the perfect device to do general computing only. Anyone buying a Steam Machine could happily ignore the Steam store and do normal PC stuff with it. So that’s why Valve did not subsidize the price. But Steam Frame is not like that. If someone wants to do general computing ONLY, then this is not a device for it. It would be cumbersome to work with, probably underpowered for its price and in general the CPU architecture is not ideal for that.
Compare this to Steam Machine. If the Machine was subsidized by Valve, then it would be cheaper than a comparable PC. In that case any company or other users would buy it to use it without Steam. In which case Valve would lose money on every single hardware.
Honestly, a GrapheneOS or LineageOS phone is a perfectly fine general purpose PC (excluding OEM android because fuck Google Play Services). You can plug it into a keyboard and monitor, enable desktop mode, and use it like a PC. ARM is more than usable for basically all the software most people would ever want to run. The Steam Frame will probably be significantly more powerful than a Google Pixel or whatever, and therefore even more usable.
Nobody argues it isn’t. I think the Steam Frame would fall into a category of Steam Deck, which is even more of a general purpose computer. That’s why it was so cheap, because most people buying it end up playing games on Steam and Valve will profit. But with Steam Machine in example Valve could not compete on price, otherwise they would lose money on each sold Machine without anyone need to use the Steam store.
There is a huge difference of specialized hardware and software like Steam Frame and Steam Deck, compared to a general desktop PC like a Steam Machine.