Microsoft sued over Xbox 360 "red ring of death"
,----[ Quote
| According to the writ, issued in the names of Christine Moskowitz and David
| Wood, Microsoft rushed to market with the Xbox 360 but suffered
| from "numerous hardware defects", known as the "red ring of death".
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=41133
See Cringely's new remarks below (with text highlight). Perfect match.
Yesterday (yes, all in one day!):
Microsoft's game division suffers $1.89B shortfall
,----[ Quote ]
| Among the grim financial figures were a few nuggets of interesting news.
| Apparently the EDD is beefing up its staff, since the company's report says
| that "headcount-related costs increased 15 percent [for the year], driven by
| a 9 percent increase in headcount and an increase in salaries and benefits
| for existing headcount, partially offset by a decrease in stock-based
| compensation expense."
`----
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/6175367.html?action=convert&om_clk=latestnews
Microsoft's Xbox 360 Problems Continue with New Failure Rate Information
,----[ Quote ]
| A former EB Games employee has stated that out of all of the XBox 360
| consoles he has sold for the last year, about 33 percent of those units have
| been taken back to EB Games after the console
`----
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/309005/microsofts_xbox_360_problems_continue.html
Microsoft faces second class action lawsuit over scratched discs
,----[ Quote ]
| In the second such lawsuit to be filed this month, Microsoft is facing legal
| class action due to the Xbox 360's reported inclination to scratch game
| discs. According to InformationWeek, the suit alleges that "Microsoft
| improperly and/or negligently manufactured the Xbox 360 console in a manner
| that causes the expensive game discs ... to be scratched, rendering the games
| unusable."
`----
http://www.joystiq.com/2007/07/19/microsoft-faces-second-class-action-lawsuit-over-scratched-discs/
Cringely the Unemployable on the fallacy of Web 2.0, Microsoft ruthlessness,
and the CB radio of our decade
,----[ Quote ]
| Davidson: Which software company would you hate to compete against? What
| makes you single them out?
|
| Cringely: Microsoft of course. They have the deepest of pockets, unlimited
| ambition, and they are willing to lose money for years and years just to make
| sure that you don't make any money, either. And they are mean, REALLY mean.
|
| Davidson: Why do you think Microsoft is mean? Are you implying some kind of
| malicious intent rather than just ruthlessness?
|
| Cringely: Maybe "mean" is the wrong word to use for Microsoft. "Ruthless" is
| good. The company is built in the image of Bill Gates and Bill is a guy who
| gets caught-up in the game of business and doesn't typically see its personal
| cost. To use what might seem to be an obscure example, just look at all the
| various partnerships and industry consortia that Microsoft has announced
| through the years that never produced a product or even a usable
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| specification. There have been literally dozens of these operations that are
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| intended solely to freeze the competition until Microsoft can figure what the
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| heck it actually wants to do. To Microsoft its a PR exercise that helps them
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| compete but to customers it is just a damned lie. That's ruthless. There are
| plenty of other examples I can give but you get the point. I represent the
| concerns of users, not vendors, and Microsoft doesn't really care about
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
| users.
| ^^^^^
`----
http://blog.businessofsoftware.org/2007/07/cringely-the-un.html
|
|
