Ghost in the XBox Machine

My old XBox game console (i.e. not 360) upped and died on me this week, and gave me the dreaded "red eye", which was a surprise to both me and my brother. He's much more of a gamer than myself, and was even interviewed in The Richmond Times Dispatch for waiting overnight for the first XBox November 15, 2001, his 30th birthday. He's moved on to other consoles, the pc, and I mostly used my XBox as a DVD player. I played a lot of "Klax" on Midway Arcade Treasures, but I don't have the time or patience for most newer games. I still read books, like to write a letter with pen & paper and send it in the mail, rather than email or social network. That's becoming a thing of the past, and I guess I am too, but I'm wandering off-point. There has to be something going on with Bill Gates' empire if my original XBox got the dreaded 360 VD. I never even got XBox Live! Infer what you will from that, but clearly, this is built-in obsolescence. I hate that, and think Gates is a bastard of the lowest order, the kind that uses technology just to rip people off and profit. My Atari 2600 still works, my frickin' Pong home console still works! My XBox didn't last a decade. Why do we put up with this douchebagerry?