Of course they have considered it. It is literally their model for handheld form factor gaming laptops (aka “Steam Deck”). And it is what they tried with round 1 of Steam Machines.
The real problem is going to be… all the problems that those of us with a Linux HTPC have. Streaming of media won’t be a thing since most services have DRM that relies on HDCP handshakes these days. Also people are going to learn the fun way why that AMD setup only supports “HDMI 2.0” (although there are workarounds to get most 2.1 functionality out of a display port adapter). Let alone just general weirdness that tends to not come up when everything is one integrated device.
Consoles have gone a LONG way towards ruining “it just works”. But I spent an hour or so yesterday finally flashing my display port dongle and it involved a second device to SSH into my HTPC and, in the process, I ended up needing to re-pair my xbox controller afterwards. I am used to that kind of bullshit and think it is fun. The first time that happens to someone you can expect all of social media to start caring that GabeN is a weird rich lunatic and insisting that Kojima-san and Sony will fix everything with the PS6 or whatever bullshit.
Streaming of media won’t be a thing since most services have DRM that relies on HDCP handshakes these days.
Can you elaborate? I can listen to streamed music from streaming apps, I watch streamed videos via YouTube or other platforms like dropout or beacon, and I host a jellyfin server in a debian box which I then watch in my endeavour desktop no problem. I also stream sometimes via discord or twitch to me friends.
Basically all the services more oriented at TV/movies (Amazon, Max, probably the movies you can buy on Youtube, etc) all tend to either lock all content behind an HDCP handshake or higher resolution streams.
So you might be able to watch the latest Glenn Howerton movie on your linux HTPC but it will be a lower res stream with no HDR or surround sound. It is a very known problem that sheepishly comes up any time someone asks about how they can build their own nvidia shield or whatever.
Oh, well… I usually prefer to watch those with an eye covered if you catch my drift…
Either that or we use our androidTV TV to watch them in the proper app.
In all fairness, it IS a valid issue, yet more minor than how you presented it xD. But yeah, it sucks if you want to have a Linux home cinema instead of using the smart tv, agreed.
The PS3, in large part, sold because it was THE best blu ray player out there. At a time when games on the Sony were actively worse than any other platform (because the CBE was a mofo for third parties), the PS3 was heavily buoyed by it weirdly being one of the cheapest blu ray players out there. And the PS2 was a REALLY good DVD player which heavily contributed to its market dominance.
For people who already have an AVR and are used to doing all their own infrastructure, it matters less. For people who essentially plug one box into the one “good” port on their TV? When there is one 1k USD box that can only do games and one 1k USD box that does games and netflix and youtube and disney plus?
It might not be a huge deal in the long run (especially with TVs having a lot of this functionality built in) but it is a talking point with no good answers. And that impacts the idea of it being “an entry point”.
And, just to add on. Apps are INCREDIBLY important to the average person… and most power users. Just look at the various attempts to spin up a “free” phone whether it is Graphene or Linux Phones or whatever. People get started going through and might even figure out they can do 90% of what they actually do on the non-google solution. Then they realize they can’t log-in to their credit card’s app (which the companies more or less require you to auth with if you are calling them because they disabled your card before sending a new one…). And you can’t log into your kid’s daycare’s camera system. And you can’t watch AEW on the shitter. And so forth.
Which is why google is actively preventing sideloading and working with those apps to lock them into google play services. And you can bet the solution they come up with to continue to allow sideloading will further lock in the GP services side of things.
Of course they have considered it. It is literally their model for handheld form factor gaming laptops (aka “Steam Deck”). And it is what they tried with round 1 of Steam Machines.
The real problem is going to be… all the problems that those of us with a Linux HTPC have. Streaming of media won’t be a thing since most services have DRM that relies on HDCP handshakes these days. Also people are going to learn the fun way why that AMD setup only supports “HDMI 2.0” (although there are workarounds to get most 2.1 functionality out of a display port adapter). Let alone just general weirdness that tends to not come up when everything is one integrated device.
Consoles have gone a LONG way towards ruining “it just works”. But I spent an hour or so yesterday finally flashing my display port dongle and it involved a second device to SSH into my HTPC and, in the process, I ended up needing to re-pair my xbox controller afterwards. I am used to that kind of bullshit and think it is fun. The first time that happens to someone you can expect all of social media to start caring that GabeN is a weird rich lunatic and insisting that Kojima-san and Sony will fix everything with the PS6 or whatever bullshit.
Can you elaborate? I can listen to streamed music from streaming apps, I watch streamed videos via YouTube or other platforms like dropout or beacon, and I host a jellyfin server in a debian box which I then watch in my endeavour desktop no problem. I also stream sometimes via discord or twitch to me friends.
Which “Streaming media” am I missing?
Basically all the services more oriented at TV/movies (Amazon, Max, probably the movies you can buy on Youtube, etc) all tend to either lock all content behind an HDCP handshake or higher resolution streams.
So you might be able to watch the latest Glenn Howerton movie on your linux HTPC but it will be a lower res stream with no HDR or surround sound. It is a very known problem that sheepishly comes up any time someone asks about how they can build their own nvidia shield or whatever.
Oh, well… I usually prefer to watch those with an eye covered if you catch my drift…
Either that or we use our androidTV TV to watch them in the proper app.
In all fairness, it IS a valid issue, yet more minor than how you presented it xD. But yeah, it sucks if you want to have a Linux home cinema instead of using the smart tv, agreed.
The PS3, in large part, sold because it was THE best blu ray player out there. At a time when games on the Sony were actively worse than any other platform (because the CBE was a mofo for third parties), the PS3 was heavily buoyed by it weirdly being one of the cheapest blu ray players out there. And the PS2 was a REALLY good DVD player which heavily contributed to its market dominance.
For people who already have an AVR and are used to doing all their own infrastructure, it matters less. For people who essentially plug one box into the one “good” port on their TV? When there is one 1k USD box that can only do games and one 1k USD box that does games and netflix and youtube and disney plus?
It might not be a huge deal in the long run (especially with TVs having a lot of this functionality built in) but it is a talking point with no good answers. And that impacts the idea of it being “an entry point”.
And, just to add on. Apps are INCREDIBLY important to the average person… and most power users. Just look at the various attempts to spin up a “free” phone whether it is Graphene or Linux Phones or whatever. People get started going through and might even figure out they can do 90% of what they actually do on the non-google solution. Then they realize they can’t log-in to their credit card’s app (which the companies more or less require you to auth with if you are calling them because they disabled your card before sending a new one…). And you can’t log into your kid’s daycare’s camera system. And you can’t watch AEW on the shitter. And so forth.
Which is why google is actively preventing sideloading and working with those apps to lock them into google play services. And you can bet the solution they come up with to continue to allow sideloading will further lock in the GP services side of things.