“It used to be that you needed a $500-million-a-year company in order to reach a worldwide audience of consumers. Now, all you need is a Steam account. That changes a whole bunch of stuff. It's kind of a boring 'gee, information processing changes a stuff' story, but it's going to have an impact on every single company.” NeedsYearsKindWholeStoriesUsedOrderStuffCompanyMillionsAudienceInformationNeededAccountsImpactBoringBunchUsed To BeConsumersSteamProcessingInformation Processing Author:Gabe Newell
“When I worked at Microsoft, I got to go and visit a bunch of different companies. Probably a hundred different companies a year. You'd see all the different ways they'd work. The guys who did Ventura Publisher one day, and then United Airlines the next. You'd see the 12 guys in Texas doing Doom, and then you'd go see Aetna life insurance.” WayYearsDifferentGuyNextUnitedCompanyOne DayHundredBunchDifferent WaysTexasPublishersDoomMicrosoftAirline Author:Gabe Newell
“I'm a utility infielder. There's always somebody who is better at a specific task than I am, but I can pitch in at a bunch of different things as needed.” I CanDifferentNeededTasksBunchDifferent ThingsUtility Author:Gabe Newell
“In order for innovation to happen, a bunch of things that aren't happening on closed platforms need to occur. Valve wouldn't exist today without the PC, or Epic, or Zynga, or Google. They all wouldn't have existed without the openness of the platform. There's a strong tempation to close the platform, because they look at what they can accomplish when they limit the competitors' access to the platform, and they say 'That's really exciting.'” NeedsLooksHappensTodayOrderStrongLimitsHappeningsExcitingInnovationAccomplishAccessBunchOpennessPlatformsGoogleEpicCompetitorsValve Author:Gabe Newell
“I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality.” PeopleIfsThinkingBe GoodBunchDestroyedAlternativesMargins Author:Gabe Newell
“Most people who end up being successful have good grades, but it's orthogonal - there's no extra information than if they put together a website and have bunch of fans who love coming and seeing what they're doing.” PeopleIfsEndsTogetherSuccessfulSeeingFansInformationBunchExtrasGradesBeing SuccessfulWebsiteGood Grades Author:Gabe Newell
“I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people.” PeopleThinkingLosesSpaceWindowBunchDestroyedCatastropheMarginsExit Author:Gabe Newell
