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Panic passes Trump tariff refunds back to the Playdate customers who paid them (arstechnica.com)
submitted 1 week ago by to c/technology@lemmy.world
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One of my favorite software companies of all time. Well, hardware too, these days.

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[+] -33 points 1 week ago (2 children)

All little mini game boys are a serious rip off. It's just an stm32, an esp32 and a screen. We're talking maybe 35$ to build one without bulk pricing. The crank is just decoration, it doesn't even do anything.

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  • [–] 19 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    So close, yet so far

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  • [+] -17 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    I guess it's nice to pretend and not even make a point. You have said nothing.

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  • [–] 23 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    He said “you don’t know what you’re talking about because the Playdate isn’t any of those things you said and it’s sure as shit not an emulator” but you might be too dense for that because meaning seems to have bounced right off. Don’t worry, the rest of us understood just fine.

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  • [+] -9 points 1 week ago* (1 child)

    No.

    He said "so close, yet so far" which is saying nothing.

    Whatever it plays, it's still just an stm32, an esp and a screen. It's still just 35$ in parts being sold for more than double the price a phone that can play Wii games would cost. It's a gimmick. You are falling for a gimmick.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago (1 child)

    I guess if it's assembled with slave labor then they could probably sell it for the cost of parts. I'm not saying it isn't overpriced, but suggesting it should only cost as much as the parts is kinda ignorant.

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  • [–] -4 points 1 week ago* (1 child)

    I highly doubt anything other than final assembly with the case is being done. PCB aren't hand soldered anymore, a machine does all the work. If it was built in the US, it wouldn't be dealing with tarrifs in any case so clearly, there's as much slave labor involved as every other product.

    Before it becomes an issue, yes I think tariffs are dumb. Its just silly to assume these guys are the only ones doing ethical gameboy gimmick toys and that's why it's overpriced.

    A quick google actually tells me it's manufactured in Malaysia so they don't even do final assembly. PCB is most likely China.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 week ago

    Great. Now add internal shipping, warehouse costs, R&D, including the ongoing development of a custom firmware, game engine including a editor, server maintenane and more for a device that, after all, is still selling in quite small numbers.

    If that still isn't enough, consider that each device comes with custom-made 24 games from various game devs.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 week ago

    The crank is a part of the game controller. Teenage engineering helped with this so of course it’s expensive. You’re acting like labor is worthless. Go make one for $35 then. Prove your case.

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