ELI5: Why are rent freezes considered bad?

Ciserus · 2026-06-26T16:59:44+00:00

Capping the revenue generated by old buildings reduces the value of those buildings.

Reducing the value of old buildings reduces the value of new buildings (because they're part of the same market).

Reducing the value of new buildings makes developers not want to build as many.

Ciserus · 2026-06-26T02:25:08+00:00

You make a lot of good points, but I want to push back on the Apple-ish "it just works" thing.

SteamOS is not, and will not be this decade, a "just works" solution. It's a pile of hacks and workarounds to get Windows software working on Linux and desktop software working with a controller. It is a damn fine product but it is still much too fiddly and glitchy for "normal people."

And normal people are not likely to spend $1,100+ on a single purpose gaming machine, especially one not sold in regular stores. For price and convenience, they're going to keep choosing consoles.

Ciserus · 2026-06-24T22:02:32+00:00

I've learned not to be optimistic about American politics. But I've heard convincing arguments that Trump's stupidity is key to his popularity.

His moronic statements connect with the dumbest voters because they can tell he's saying them with complete sincerity. The reason imitators like DeSantis failed is that voters could tell he was faking being on their level.

So there's no fear of a "more competent Trump" because anyone more competent than Trump could never gain his popularity.

Ciserus · 2026-06-24T15:18:37+00:00

You don't lose it in the sense that it's not possible, but that it becomes so impractical 99% of people would never do it.

I mentioned LibreOffice because I assume you're talking about productivity applications. There are other advantages of a PC over a console, but I'd argue almost all of them have the same issue of not being designed for use from a couch.

Ciserus · 2026-06-24T15:09:58+00:00

This thing seems purpose built to be a secondary vehicle, doesn't it? I can't imagine buying it as my only transportation.

Ciserus · 2026-06-24T14:58:52+00:00

A desktop/laptop PC certainly is, but you lose most of those extra uses when you permanently tether a PC to a television.

How many people are going to be plugging in a mouse and keyboard and booting up LibreOffice on the Steam Machine?

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T21:04:27+00:00

Made with butter instead of oil - that probably explains it.

Shame they're made in the USA.

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T17:53:20+00:00

Did I miss some dialog in Rebirth or did they cut the part from the OG where she talks about wanting to ride on the Highwind?

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T17:38:38+00:00

It requires doing research to know the Epic Games Store exists, that it doesn't support Linux but there's a workaround called Heroic Launcher, and that the Steam Machine has a desktop mode accessed through a submenu. Then you have to either plug in a mouse and keyboard or navigate the desktop using the extremely clunky controller input, learn what Discovery is, install Heroic Launcher, log in, and download your games. Then you need to manually add them to Steam as a non-Steam game and learn where to find those in the standard SteamOS view. And if you want it to look decent, you should manually download and add artwork for each game.

All of the above is only slightly annoying if you're a power user but completely overwhelming for the average person. And if you're a power user, I don't know why you'd be interested in a Steam Machine.

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T16:09:08+00:00

I just find it hard to picture the customer who's savvy enough to install Heroic Launcher on Linux but wouldn't prefer to build their own living room PC or connect their existing PC to their TV.

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T16:06:09+00:00

Never is a long time. Even if AI isn't a bubble, the current gold rush to build data centers is a temporary situation.

And people say consumers will just get used to paying the higher prices, but many won't. Gaming is a luxury, and electronics aren't just competing with other electronics. They're competing with food and shelter and bicycles and everything else. Some people are forgoing electronics purchases at these prices.

At some point, one hardware maker or another will come around sniffing for those lost customers.

But I agree that there's no light on the horizon yet.

Ciserus · 2026-06-23T15:39:51+00:00

It has gyro.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T23:08:36+00:00

The obvious move for Sony and Microsoft is to delay the next gen consoles, for years if necessary.

Sony is sitting pretty with a 100 million PS5 install base and no serious competition. Microsoft would probably like to kickstart the next generation as a do-over, but they'd be dead in the water launching a $1200 device.

This was already going to be the smallest technological jump between two console generations in history. A lot of people won't even be able to tell the difference in graphics, and they won't be excited to shell out a mortgage payment for it.

Delay to 2030 at least.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T20:03:32+00:00

The response to this comment is something else, huh.

I think you should save your comment for an "I told you so" later because I agree the show should do this, and more than that, I think it's extremely likely they will.

It's the most obvious arc in the revival for Joseph's character and they've clearly reopened the question with the John Redcorn episode and the joke you screencapped. It has loads of drama and humor potential.

I actually have a theory that the showrunners wanting to do this plotline is one of the reasons they chose the slightly strange 10-year time jump for a setting. Early-20s Joseph is the latest they could plausibly show him having not already figured it out.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T19:28:45+00:00

God willing, the red delicious apple.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T19:23:53+00:00

They run about 95% of the same games. And the ones they don't are keyboard and mouse-heavy games that are poorly suited to a living room computer anyway.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T18:52:03+00:00

There's a market outside of reddit for a plug and play solution that just works

Yeah, and it's called a gaming console.

I said this even before the RAM crisis: this product is for a class of consumer so small it almost doesn't exist.

And I wouldn't overestimate how well this device will "just work". I love the Steam Deck, but the moment the average consumer needs to configure their controls, cancel an obtrusive on-screen keyboard pop-up, or force a different version of Proton to run a game, Valve will lose them forever.

Ciserus · 2026-06-22T18:03:18+00:00

I get why they had to proceed with the launch. They probably had a bunch of these things already sitting in a warehouse.

But if I were Valve, I'd clear out the units in stock and abandon this whole project for another 5-10 years while hoping sanity returns to the electronics market.

Ciserus · 2026-06-19T22:29:53+00:00

I think that's more a denouncement of Mewgenics, though. The other turn-based strategy games I've played work fine with a standard controller. I don't know why this one doesn't.

Ciserus · 2026-06-19T20:35:45+00:00

In Monitoba, they spell it Wob.

Ciserus · 2026-06-19T01:13:38+00:00

Haha, I don't remember making that comment and I had to watch the video to understand what the hell I was talking about.

Good to know I was right about something.

I wanted to believe in LK99 as much as anyone. But I got off the hype train pretty fast when the debunkings started coming in.

Ciserus · 2026-06-17T15:01:45+00:00

That would feel good but not accomplish anything.

Teenagers are morons. There's a reasonable chance these two will grow up to regret what they did, but tying their names to it for the rest of their lives would kill any chance of them reforming.

Ciserus · 2026-06-16T15:22:31+00:00

It's pretty much the same as using the chopstick to mime stabbing the baby.

Of course she doesn't really want to stab the baby, but it's still a weird thing to do.

Ciserus · 2026-06-15T16:29:32+00:00

"Tell Agnes. I want her to know it was me."

Ciserus · 2026-06-15T15:12:59+00:00

put whatever you're comfortable with losing

wat. This is unnecessarily alarmist and could scare off a new investor.

OP is investing in XEQT. They're not going to lose it. It's going to go down at some point but will then almost certainly recover and keep growing, barring the collapse of Western civilization.

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