Comment by 3acctforcom
3 months ago
Gabe is literally practising Noblesse Oblige, which is really funny but really shows that our billionare society is really just a reduction to old aristocracy. He's just the good Duke, whereas most Dukes are horrible, horrible people.
Noblesse oblige exists because of a moral economy. You can be a horrible Duke, because there's no real reward for being the good one.
This is not that - Steam has to compete on the free market, there is a reward for making the product everyone else refuses to make. In a post-Deck world, it's hard to believe that moral obligation plays a bigger role than the overall hatred of Windows for seamless gaming experiences.
Well the complements of steam are the OS and hardware. So commoditizing them increases sales.
https://www.joelonsoftware.com/2002/06/12/strategy-letter-v/
"A complement is a product that you usually buy together with another product. Gas and cars are complements. Computer hardware is a classic complement of computer operating systems. And babysitters are a complement of dinner at fine restaurants."
> Noblesse oblige exists because
... the plebs know what is good for them. Horrible Dukes get horses wanting nails.
>He's just the good Duke
The Gaben house is building a secret army, using a technique unknown to us; a technique involving steam.