I’ve never read anything quite like it. I picked it up in a second hand store for a couple of bucks while travelling, read it the first time and was completely confused, thn re read it a second and third time.
My takeaway is that it’s an exercise in suspension of disbelief. The third time through I’d accepted that it was just…weird…and it became a grimy unsettling story about complex people with complex motivations.
in answer to your question Marcus, because I paid attention in economics class and understand the concept of opportunity cost.
To paint the full picture, it’s $2,399 to pre order it in the country I live in (Australia).
The average wage in australia is 90k pretax, approx 70k post tax
2399 is mortgage payments, food or transportation.
In answer to your question about why - https://xkcd.com/1053/
There are a surprising number of people who don’t game, have a different perception of what gaming is, who have heard about this switch thing but don’t know what it does, who think consoles just plug into the TV etc etc
The devices that you describe are incompatible with a standard that has been mature for 50 years.
The 3.5mm jack is everywhere, it is the standard. USB C is incredibly recent.
Put it this way, if you were to walk into a store and pick up any given electronic product with audio output, would you expect it to have an audio jack, or a USB C connector?
In your drawer full of random electric cables, how many have 3.5mm plugs in them vs usb a, micro, mini, or some propriety plug? And how many could you plug into a device and just…work?
So why do you accept devices that don’t have this standard?? It is beyond me.
Eta - modifying the diet of a domesticated animal for your convenience seems to run contrary to the premise of minimising animal cruelty.