here's an example of microsoft screwing people over...



if there is a power button on the xbox, why do you need a reset button on the coord? Its like the place a timer in it to tell you when to screw you over! anyway, when it messes up (or times up) a red light flashes and the red button continues to pop out.it it once took me 30 mins of pressing the button just to get it to stay. when its not pressed, the xbox wont turn on.

RANT and show more unexplained junk

I've never once seen a power cord like that for the Xbox.

They must have only made them for a very short time.

its what mine looks like, anyway, the tag says:

Sounds to me like it's a safety feature of some sort, similar to the test/reset buttons on electrical receptacles required by law in bathrooms.

i think its just bull. and no. the yellow button says TEST so really, the red RESET button is unexplained

You mean a GFCI and yes that is most likely what it is, its actually designed to prevent a bad cord or a short from destroying your entire Xbox. I can guarantee there is nothing in there designed to go bad after a specific length of time, the GFCI circuit most likely just barely fits as it is.

It looks like a built-on breaker to me.

Break the cord and breaker trips, keeps tripping until you get a new cord.

i dont see why something like a power breaker would be external.

IZ EVILL!!!

Breakers go bad, it's cheaper to replace the cord than a breaker, the cord is where the fail will most likely occur, etc...

Its external so that if the component itself goes bad as GFCI's have been known to do it can be replaced by just replacing the whole cord.

This is a little old, but yet another example. This is a picture of the inside of a nintendo 64 control stick.

Sorry, image break...


notice the 2 black rotators use to move the dials up and down.to keep it still, a spring is placed on top of these that applies downward pressure.....

WHATT?!?!??!
1) The spring is flimsy and easily warped.
2) spring=metal, rotators=plastic HELLLOO? slide off anyone?

nintendo is no idiot.controller would have to be replaced after only months of gameplay

Thank you, a Ground-Fault Circuit Interrupt is exactly what I was thinking of. It's certainly cheaper to replace the cord than omit the GFCI, have the short possibly set fire to your rug or destroy the xBox, and have to deal with lawsuits, xBox replacement claims, and such junk for both Microsoft and the consumer.

However, I strongly believe that a lot of modern technology and products are designed if not expressly with planned obsolescence in mind, than at last mass-produced with extremely poor quality compared with the products of twenty, thirty, or sixty years ago.

That xbox cord was annoying, but you can just replace it with a regular 2-prong power cord like you get with every other piece of electronic equipment from the last 20 years.

Oh, it's not permanently attached to the xBox? That's handy. Also, what's with all the powder in the joystick? Did part of it disintegrate?

To clarify that point, Microsoft had some issues with (fuzzy memory here, but as best I recall) the machines catching fire in some cases due to bad power supply, which led to the release of that new power brick containing a GFCI. I've had a first-gen xbox since shortly after release, and distinctly recall some.. thing happening to get the new-style power cords out there- initial retail connector was just straight-through mains as DShiznit has noted.

That case (xbox power brick, I mean) is unexpected failures in engineering (or perhaps even manufacturing) requiring post-release support. That's not planned obsolescence, as the fix cost the maker money- it's just a mistake.

Ahhh, that makes even more sense that they were targeting a specific issue rather than preempting possible problems; thanks Tari!