Valve "jumping in" to computer hardware space
"We're frustrated by the lack of innovation."
Valve is "frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space" - "so we're jumping in".
Those are the unflinching words of a job advert posted on Valve's website.
"Valve is traditionally a software company," read the Industrial Designer ad. "Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers."
Then, and crucially: "We're frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though, so we're jumping in.
"Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven't really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There's a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked."
Valve's been linked with hardware for a while now. The Steam operator and Half-Life maker is rumoured to be crafting a Steam Box - a kind of PC - for the living room. And inventions like Steam's Big Picture mode seem to back this up.
But Valve's also researching wearable computing - an idea described by a Valve boffin as "Terminator Vision": augmented reality, all the time, everywhere.
How tangible either of these projects are, at the moment, no one knows.
