A new jobs listing on Valve's site says that Valve will begin developing hardware for consumers. A listing for an industrial engineer says, "Valve is traditionally a software company. 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. We're frustrated by the lack of innovtion in the computer hardware space though, so we're jumping in." The post specifies that the position will add "expertise in product design and manufacturing, ergonomics, usability, aesthetics, and surfacing." Candidates for the position are expected to have "6+ years of professional experience shipping world-class, high-tech hardware products" and "a thorough understanding of product design principles." People have been wanting Valve to join the hardware market since march when rumors came out that Valve was developing a Steam Box Console. Valve later announced the rumors were false and that it was a long way until Valve started shipping any type of hardware. If Valve truly is gong to start developing hardware, the hardware needs to be good enough to appeal to both gamers and regular-day people to stay on the market.
