The issue is more having to have an internet connection to play games and access system features, not the problem of the device constantly being connected.

I think you need to inform yourself what always online in the xbox situation means.

the actual problem is online requirement for singleplayer/offline games

imagine you want to play Halo campaign, but you can't because the servers are in maintenance or because your isp has connection problems and so on

but personally I still think Microsoft won't do this

Actually Turkish you do.

While I think the OP is trolling, he knows what "Always On" refers to, both in the general context and with the Xbox 8, because they're the same thing, power states.  You want to equate "Always On" with "Always Connected".  Those two are not equal.  Nor is the belief that "Always Connected" means the DRM relies on an "Always Connected"  device.  It doesn't.

There is so much confusion about "always on" and "always online". It doesn't help the media is messing up the terms too. "Always on" means the system doesn't have to power down or up just like your smartphone, laptop, or Vita(everyone has one of those right? you should). "Always online" means it has to be connected to the internet to work, which sounds pointless and a big pain. It isn't like the console is cloud powered is it?

or you could go psycho on it like that francis guy and axe it! hahaha

this issue amazes me, considering that pretty much everyone that sees XBL popup saying you're disconnected, immediatly goes into troubleshoot mode, checking their local network, checking the internet connection on other devices to first findout if their ISP is at fault, then if everything else checks out, most people check the xbox status page, the forums and twitter to see if a bunch of new posts have been made about outtages and either add to it, or create a new one.

and the same thing would occur if it was your ISP, you'd be on the phone with them. and unless you get confirmation that its a serious issue that will take a while to fix, nobody just blindly keeps playing, even if its a singleplayer game, cause im almost certain that even if you have all your notifications turned off the actual signing in and out of XBL overrides it and would still be shown

and they point to SimCity or Diablo 3...guess what, those are MMO designed games, even tho SimsCity fans hate to admit it, the purpose of that game was to have the MMO aspect of other people running cities around you.

and guess what, if your internet is down or XBL is down, you're not playing Madden or Minecraft with your friends anyways and its most likely going to be something similar to how games already are, and you'll pay for a pass to play the game if its not new.

i can almost garuntee this issue wont be that big of a deal and that rentals will still be an option cause Gamefly just opened up yet another facility in Kansas City, along with Seattle late last year, they're working close with the developers, they know game release dates before most gaming news publications do, they cant just throw a game on at the last second and expect to have the supply, which also means they wouldnt be taking the time to further invest in the company if its about to be phased out and in turn, i highly doubt Publishers are mad at them considering XBL themselves have a Gamefly theme and gamerpic set.