> how much someone deserves to own a Steam Machine, which we determine by their ability to pay.
No, that is how you determine how much a person deserves to own a Steam Machine. Valve has made a different choice.
Sounds like you love unregulated free capitalism but correct me if I am wrong. If that’s the case I wonder if you would see things differently if said system strongly disadvantaged you and your loved ones in other areas (health care, housing, education).
I think if we derive “deserving” solely by “ability to pay” we loose our humanity.
Re:Steam Machine
by Dylan16807 on Tuesday June 23, 2026 @01:47AM
(#48640841)
People labor so they can buy stuff in general, mostly at normal pricing. Nobody labors for the edge case of paying off a scalper to get something, and that situation's mostly going to cause bitterness that they had to work extra because the scalper inflated the price.
It's not a perfect system, but money is how we as a society determine how to allocate scarce resources. People labor under the promise that having additional money will give them an advantage in this type of situation.