I was afraid this would happen.
My Xbox 360 is dead.
Sure, it had a disc drive that sounded like it was gargling glass from time to time, but that never seemed like a life-threatening problem. Sure, it froze from time to time, but never fatally. Never with the infamous “red ring of death,” either, which is the 360’s way of saying that you’re about to enter a world of pain.
Fast forward to last week, when it froze repeatedly as I was trying to play “Forza Motorsport 2.” All I wanted to do was finish painting my BMW M3, but after five or six minutes, the thing would freeze without fail. One last time I tried to turn it on, and it gave me the red ring.
Oh noes.
For those who don’t know, mine is not an isolated case. 1up.com posted a story last week about a young man who’s on his 12th 360 since the console’s launch in November of 2005. On one of the network’s podcasts, 1up editors also approximated that almost all of their office’s Xbox 360 units have failed, with one of the writers saying that every Xbox 360 he’s played has failed.
After months of dragging their feet, saying that it’s a problem they could not narrow down, and offering up $140 repairs for out-of-warranty 360 systems, Microsoft finally owned up to the problem yesterday. Now there’s a three-year warranty, and anybody who’s had to pay for repairs regarding the good old red ring o’ death will be reimbursed.
Though the service is now very good (and seemingly dedicated to getting the job done correctly), it’s still an inconvenience. Though it’s something like looking a gift horse in a mouth, the thought of shipping off my console for two weeks – regardless of price – still stings. At least I know if it happens again I’m covered (as are many other millions of people), but having a super-warranty for a fragile piece of technology still doesn’t let me sleep well at night.
This sounds familiar. Hmm… when did this happen last to me with a piece of electronics that works great but has a proverbial glass jaw? Oh yeah, my hard-drive iPods. I had two of those break in two years, including a replacement that shuffled off this mortal coil after just three months. Just like the 360, I like iTunes, iPod functionality and style, and it’s something that works… until it breaks. Then it’s expensive to fix, and you can’t help but feel powerless in that position.
I guess that is what it’s like with golden handcuffs.
I can’t help but scoff sometimes at the limited lifespans of modern electronics. Hooked into my receiver are a pair of speakers that my dad had in college in the mid ’70s. They’ve been rebuilt once, but that’s after taking almost twenty years of abuse, not twenty weeks. They were incredibly expensive when my dad purchased them to blast Marvin Gaye, Ohio Players and Led Zeppelin records in Corvallis; I found online once that they were $900 each in 2007 dollars.
Sure, that’s expensive, but so is $400 for an Xbox 360. And before the warranty announcement I was slated to pay $140 to get it fixed.
Welcome to electronic progress.
But, like a good little fan who’s already got too much invested in the Xbox 360, now I’m waiting for the box to send my system out for repairs, and I will wait with little patience for it to come back. That can’t come quickly enough.
I can’t believe I’ve got unconditional love for an electronic device, but when the highs are so good, how can you not?
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