xbox 360 controller

Don’t get me wrong, I love my XBOX 360.

It’s the best video console I’ve ever owned (and I’ve owned them all). The games are amazing, the Media Center integration is awesome. XBOX Live and XBOX Live Arcade are great value-added services. Even the hardware design is the best I’ve seen from a console.

So why is it a failure? I will tell you many reasons and they some are a product of Microsoft’s recent failures to embrace trends with agility and some are a product of Microsoft’s old-school mentality of producing hardware and software. The XBOX failed in three key areas:

Failure to create an open platform for third party (software) developers

I like to start with this because this annoys me greatly, especially as a developer. As you may or may not know, the XBOX 360 comes with what Microsoft calls a Dashboard. The dashboard is essentially a GUI for the XBOX 360 operating system. The dashboard performs essentially the same as Windows Media Center.

The dashboard is great as it allows me to connect to XBOX LIve, send messages, download games/demos, connect to my iPOD and Media Center, etc, etc. The drawback is the fact that I cannot build an application to run on the dashboard. I could create an RSS Reader to pull XBOX 360 news. I could build a plugin for last.fm. I could build a plugin to upload photos to flickr. The list is huge.

I honestly do not understand why Microsoft did this. As many software companies have proven - creating a platform for third party developers creates value for the community. Think of all the cool apps that would have already been created for the dashboard.

Failure to embrace the web

My XBOX 360 is connected to my home network giving me the ability to stream video and music from my servers. Awesome! But, there is no web browser. Imagine an open platform (above) with connectivity to the web. Think of all the value-added applications that could be created with the marriage of the web and an open platform for any developers. XBOX 360 users could download your plugin from a website and install it immediately (think of extensions for Firefox except on your XBOX).

The device is connected to the internet and I should be able to use the internet in the same manner as I do on my laptop. Why limit the use of your hardware? It’d be like an iPOD that only plays your MP3’s but cannot play podcasts. I want to IM, watch YouTube, check email, read RSS, and listen to the news in my living room, on my XBOX, over the internet.

And guess what happens when TV over IP gets popular? You already have the hardware in your living room.

Failure to embrace social networking trends

I think this is one of Microsoft’s biggest failures, especially with the current valuation and participation levels of social networks. Microsoft essentially has a cornered market of video game enthusiasts and failed to implement a way for these users (outside of the XBOX) to interact with each other. We’re all connected. We all have our gamertags and what not. Why not wrap a social network around it? It’s a large untapped resource that not only can be monetized - but has proven its ability to create value to large communities of people.

But hey, the games are fun!

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