I’m on the reservation list for a Steam Machine and personally have no regrets, but I’m so happy these exist. I don’t think it has to be a big competition, but between not appealing to a mass audience and have limited stock, the Steam Machine may have inadvertently ushered in a prebuilt Linux PC revolution, and that’s a wonderful thing.

It’s on par or slightly better/worse than the base PS5 depending on the game, according to Digital Foundry. In general, it seems to run 1080p exquisitely, 1440p surprisingly well, and poorly in 4K for demanding current-gen games.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhWtLi_FqLo

There’s a lot of doom and gloom on the internet about this, and I get why, but honestly, I’m happy it’s not $1,500 like I was expecting. I reserved the 512 GB model with a controller, and I’ll upgrade the hard drive when prices go down.

That being said, I’m worried about the lottery system and hope restocks will be available for those who aren’t initially selected.

Use a dumbphone and hold onto a smartphone to use only when necessary. I have a Sunbeam F1 Pro for daily use. And I have a Moto G Power, purchased used, that I use maybe once every other week for bike maps, public transit, and restaurant QR codes. I’m hoping with how amazing the battery is that will last until 5G inevitably gets phased out. I was using FOSS apps with that, but I’ll just go back to the App Store. Post-DOGE, my threat model doesn’t require degoogling anymore.

Maybe eventually I’ll move to GrapheneOS, provided it finds a way to exist without using Google products and services. I have high hopes for Ubuntu Touch in the 2030s.

For me it’s less about finding a new daily driver and more about limiting the time spent on an Android phone.