Just how badly does Microsoft want the Xbox One to fail

[TinCow]

The plan all along has been to control the living room by being the set top box. DVD/Blueray player, DVR, streaming movies, games, internet, just one central entertainment device. Most of that requires internet access for proper usability, if they can attempt to solve content-related control problems with fulltime connectivity they will. The built-in survellience tool is just an added bonus.

Quite right and, from a business standpoint, quite sensible. The 360/PS3 battle was fought as much for the media center as it was for the gaming console. When it came out, the PS3 was the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market, and many, many people use their 360/PS3 as their main media interface boxes. That's a increasingly significant market these days, and it's only going to grow more so. Cable and satellite companies provide basic boxes, but the reality is that they are pretty crappy. None of us want to have 3-4 different boxes sitting under our televisions. It's 2013 FFS, we want convergence in all electronics, and our entertainment centers are no exception. The only console I've owned since the NES is a Wii, and the Wii purchase was exclusively because of my wife. That said, I probably would have picked up a 360/PS3 to use as a media center if I hadn't become a TiVo addict years ago. My main TiVo is a very, very heavily used device. I would go bonkers if I didn't have a set top box that could stream Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, and music/video off my home network. If I somehow lost my TiVo and couldn't get another one, I would very seriously consider a console to fill that role.