Jesus everyone yes, hp sucks. A lot. But this is still good news. Steam and Linux are being legitimized as real platforms. The more companies who jump in the better.
The headline also sucks. “HP are [doing something] because [a different company’s] user experience sucks” reeks of utter hypocrisy
Wow! Im so excited to buy it never.
There is not a force on Earth that could compel me to ever buy hardware from HP again. I’d rather not have a computer than have an HP computer.
Fuck HP. I could see these assholes charging you a fee to download anything or use their device in any meaningful way. They are leaders in the enshittification race.
and then the GPU will catch fire
Better hope you paid your fire suppression subscription!
“We at HP believe that our products are just that: our products. Not yours. Let us maintain our products for you with features such as: mandatory subscriptions, and firmware updates that remove features and user freedom – simplifying and streamlining your experience.”
A point made by HP’s SVP and Division President of Gaming Solutions Josephine Tan when talking to XDA Developers, Tan mentioned “If you look at Windows, I struggle with the experience myself. If I don’t like it, I don’t know how to do a product for it.”. Tan continued “If I’m buying a handheld, I want a very simple setup. The minute I turn on my handheld, it will remember the last game I played. In the Windows environment, it doesn’t”.
Okay, I’m not saying that HP shouldn’t do a SteamOS handheld, but…this seems like such a bad rationale. Surely, surely it is possible to write a relatively-trivial piece of software for Windows that simply remembers the last game played? Especially if we’re just talking stuff running out of Steam?
It costs more money to hire software devs to make a custom piece of software that needs to be maintained and fully supported with customer service than it sticking SteamOS on it and providing support and having customer service. Valve did all of that hard work and rnd and paid for it all, hp just needs to pay for an oem license —probably a very good deal for them
pretty sure they don’t even have to pay for an oem licence I’m pretty sure it’s free for them
You’re probably right that they can just put the os on their hardware for free, but I would think they do pay something for the rights to have the “powered by SteamOS” mark. I would bet that valve has some sort of hardware partner criteria to maintain valves image if you use their mark, like their old steam machine program.
“HPGamerMate requires an active HP Game-On subscription for offline gaming functionality.”
“Remember: You can unlock exclusive HPGamerMate features when you link a valid HP Instant Ink subscription!”
Worse, they would make the hardware in such a way that you need special screwdrivers to open it, and even if you get access to it, the internal design is so hostile that it makes replacing parts a 4 hour experience.
It’s a bold assumption that parts would even be available to buy.
"The HPGamerMate includes a patented AI-powered blockchain-secured cloud-enabled software-encrypted physical lock on the back of the unit to prevent unauthorized access to the inside of the device. Any attempts to circumvent the hardware lock are considered to be circumvention of the software encryption and will be prosecuted under the Digital Millinnium Copyright Act of 1998 or your region’s specific laws.
HP takes the security of its products seriously and will never burden users with being able to service our devices."
“Please submit all fears and worst-case scenarios to the HP Product Design & Improvement Team using our online portal. We strive to implement the most popular ideas into our products.”
