True Value was my first job as a teen. I was beyond useless when it came to actually using the things sold in the store. I lived at home, had never done any actual projects myself beyond a pinewood derby car, and was not to be trusted beyond which aisle something is in.

It isn’t dead?? This ruins my day.

At the end of the day I guess it’s about brand respectability (same reason some religions are cults and some aren’t, IMHO)

Author was Ivy educated I take it?

While Valve is objectively better and more insulated from anti-consumer policies as a privately held company with good ownership…

I still have reservations about having my eggs in one basket with Valve, though I have a substantial Steam library. Someday Gabe will retire and/or the competition will stop shooting itself in the foot. As a result, the current customer friendly behavior may shift and then all bets are off.

If that were to come to pass, I think we’d see a huge jump in 🏴‍☠️ 🦜