I built my first PC in 2009. You’re right that it isn’t very hard, especially now with resources like what you linked plus videos on YouTube. But not everybody is interested in tinkering like that. There’s research to be done to even know what half this shit means. Your average gamer hasn’t built a PC and doesn’t know AMD from Intel. Younger people these days tend to expect something quick and easy, so they’ll be more likely to buy something prebuilt. People 35ish+ these days tend to be too busy working multiple jobs and/or school and/or managing homes, so they’ll be more likely to buy something that just works when they get an hour to spare.
It’s getting to be exceedingly rare for a person to have the knowledge necessary AND time AND money to build and troubleshoot a modern PC.
As somebody who probably could do it, I might still just buy a steam machine. Because I don’t need cutting edge shit and I just want to sip on whiskey and relax, not have yet another fucking project on my hands. My laptop is old and dying, and I’m looking for a reason to not buy a PS6. This would cover both.
We are a very niche group. This product will appeal to a lot of people who aren’t here, but also to some who are. In the end, this will be good for PC gaming as a whole, and it will probably either hurt Microsoft or inspire them to make some serious changes. I’m betting that this also makes people a little more curious about their hardware and software. The steam deck proved to me that leaving windows could be pretty simple and not a downgrade. I’ve been looking to build my own steam machine ever since, and now I might not need to depending on the price.