[ Thanks to Jason
Greenwood for this link. ]
“Not long after a 31-year-old Manhattan financial executive
became bored with his Xbox games and Xbox Live Service, he opened
his Xbox and soldered in a chip that allowed him to change the
console’s basic computer code and bypass its internal security
technology. Then he installed a new hard drive and transferred
about 3,000 MP3 music files to the system and downloaded illegal
copies of 3,500 old-time arcade games. He installed the Linux
operating system, which allowed him to use the box essentially as a
personal computer.“When Microsoft released the Xbox in November 2001, it was
heralded as far more than a game machine. Even as the Xbox took aim
at Sony’s PlayStation 2 game empire, the console was meant to lead
Microsoft’s broader invasion of the living room. Incorporating a
hard drive, which made it more readily adaptable than other
consoles, the Xbox had the potential to be a digital-entertainment
nerve center.“That is happening, but not necessarily as Microsoft planned.
All sorts of new software is indeed running on Xbox consoles these
days, and they are in fact becoming home-entertainment hubs, but
not as Microsoft had expected…”