They sometimes invest in products they believe can make an impactful change, perhaps with money others spend on partying and what-not, so what's your point? Nobody's forcing you to pre-order this.
At some point reality kicks in and if the thing is not economically viable, it won't work, long term.
"Real hackers" should pay more attention to economics and to quote the anonymous guy, "gatekeep" less, if they don't want to be stuck in a box forever, whining about the "evil" Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc.
The goal is to make it viable by developing enough of an ecosystem around it for it to be desirable by a wider audience. Accoutring to your approach, we wouldn't have free software at all, because it flies in the face of conventional economics. Someone with a little more vision had to prove it works, despite all the naysayers.
> if they don't want to be stuck in a box forever, whining about the "evil" Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc.
If supporting a real hardware platform that is independent of "evil" Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. isn't taking practical steps to not be stuck with them, I don't know what is.
"Real hackers" should pay more attention to economics and to quote the anonymous guy, "gatekeep" less, if they don't want to be stuck in a box forever, whining about the "evil" Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc.