Last legs

My 360 has lasted pretty well but after a whole slew of Halo 3 related problems I can't help but feel that the writing is on the wall. Having been stung by the dire battery life of ipod gens one and two (though - touch wood - currently things are ok on that count)as well as my first xbox which upped and red-ringed on me there's a sense of weary inevitability about the disposability of electronics.

My NES still works, until last year I was the proud owner of a monstrous (but fully functional) ten-year old TV, even my PS2 - now clocking in at around its 5th anniversary - still runs San Andreas and Bully. However so important had an ipod become to me that, by the time of its demise, I just had to suck it up and buy a new one. This was the time before affordable and reasonably simple battery replacement, but nonetheless Apple's business model relies on regular upgrades - touch wheel to colour screen to video to touch screen and so on. It's not too much of a leap to make a link to limted battery life.

Objectionable as this approach is, it is - at least - understandable. The whole 360 issue is more puzzling. Microsoft are still a good few months off even announcing the next Xbox (720?)yet are suffering hardware failure on a grand scale. It is difficult to imagine even the most optimistic marketing manager would think that disappointed 360 owners, having suffered the RRoD, would go out and buy the latest premium model (in this case the Elite).

No, the natural expectation is for something akin to a NES, PS2, DVD player or TV. Something which lasts until a new, more advanced model comes out. It is then upt o the individual consumer whether he wants the upgrade. The other extreme to the Apple model of inbuilt obselescence is well represented by Sony. If you want a PS2 you can buy one (you could even buy a PS1 until comparatively recently). Alternatively you can shell out for a PS3 (whether you'd want to or not is another matter. In either case you're buying something that will - broadly speaking - continue to work.

That Xbox as a product is on a par with the Sony model but seems to embody the Apple model in practice is patently wrong, and probably due to defective manufacturing. Even in this case, however, it is baffling how such a hige problem could have been allowed to slip through the testing process.

I appreciate that this debate is at least a year old now, but the imminent death of my own 360 makes it something I can't help but think about. In any case it's amazing that - in such circumstances - Microsoft can sustain such an enthusiastic fanbase.