Abner Stories

Xbox Hack PR scandal

The NYTimes had a story a few days/weeks? ago, now available in bits and pieces (or here) on how hobbyists have taken to modifying the Xbox to turn it into a PC.

While many think of this in the way car manufacturers view replacing parts of a car to improve performance, Microsoft is not pleased. Contrast the Microsoft attitude with the attitude of Lego - who has (I believe) worked to encourage people to tear their products apart. (Hmm, chances are good they might buy another one!) Good if your margin is in hardware, bad if it's in software

Bottom Line: Unless you design and build a system to be resilient to attack, you will not get much sympathy when someone uses your technology for something you did not intend.