Personally I dont like the always online stuff. DRM is a bunch of sh*t. But to be honest it isnt the biggest deal in the world. I dont live in the biggest city but I never have to worry about internet outages. Honestly I think most people are making way to big a deal with this. Sure id prefer it not happen but its not and should not be a deal breaker to very many people. Ultimately its the games (or perhaps media functions) that will decide the fate of the next xbox not this retarted argument about always online.
Honestly even if this does come to fruition I doubt you wont be able to do anything without internet. More than likely M$ will do something similiar to what Blizzard did with Starcraft. They will make achievements and other small features unusable without being connected. I highly doubt they will not allow you to do anything without internet.
But thats just my 2 cents.
Long Live SHIO!
Essay Pro