I have a first generation Xbox 360. Microsoft repaired the RRoD three times under warranty. The fourth time it RRoD'd was out of warranty and so it sat for a couple of years. Later I fixed with about $15 worth of parts [1] in an afternoon. It's still running after 10 years with the same 20gig hard disk.
Analyzing my experience, the out of band warranty extension is a feature of an underlying value Microsoft placing on gaming. It's not just that the repairs were the right way to make something that was going to suck suck less. It's that the core proposition of the Xbox 360 was that the experience of using it would keep getting better and that it would get better because games would get better. Playing FIFA 16 is better than playing FIFA 12 was better than playing FIFA 07.
Beyond that, the software keeps getting better because Microsoft values developers. They're not all just share croppers who pay 30% to enter a downward race toward ninety-nine cents.
[1] 8 cheeseheads, a tube of thermal paste, and a sheet of .070. aluminum from the hobby shoppe.
Analyzing my experience, the out of band warranty extension is a feature of an underlying value Microsoft placing on gaming. It's not just that the repairs were the right way to make something that was going to suck suck less. It's that the core proposition of the Xbox 360 was that the experience of using it would keep getting better and that it would get better because games would get better. Playing FIFA 16 is better than playing FIFA 12 was better than playing FIFA 07.
Beyond that, the software keeps getting better because Microsoft values developers. They're not all just share croppers who pay 30% to enter a downward race toward ninety-nine cents.
[1] 8 cheeseheads, a tube of thermal paste, and a sheet of .070. aluminum from the hobby shoppe.