I just read a thread about a member here losing faith in the xbox one and frankly it was the last straw. It's time to stand up for the little guy and point out some things that apparently only myself and a handful of other people in the world can see.
Strategy:
Microsoft is entering many different markets, and have developed the xbox one in such a way that as the console performs, so do the underlying technologies.
Here are the markets it is either establishing a position in or fortifying.
1. Consumer trend tracking and statistics
2. Blu-ray
3. Cloud and cloud-based retail application
4. "Hands-free" navigation
5. Home network
6. DVR and television programming
7. Television production
8. Streaming UGC
Now let's take a look at XB1's relative strengths:
1. It is the only "all in one" product on the market that can also play AAA video games. Unlike competing products like AppleTV, WDTV, Roku, GoogleTV, Chromecast, YouView- the XB1 provides a complete suite of functions atop competitive offerings. While many of these competitors do provide things like "snap-in" and gesture/phone navigation and gaming, they still lack the heavy hitter games that move boxes like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto.
Additionally, Tivo/DVR functions on most of these boxes require an upgrade of a harddrive. This generally results in increasing the price from anywhere around 79$ to 149$.
2. Clear identity. Face it, there is literally no product on the planet that provides a similar experience to the xbox one... in fact, even if a product was developed that could use gestures, play AAA games, record live tv, and have the kind of integration and streaming that xb1 has, it would cost much much more. One could argue that playstation is capable of doing the same with its offering, but for a great number of people (50% of 160m, according to current xbox360/ps3 numbers) the most important features are kinect, and the xbox franchises. I challenge you to point out a console that has kinect-like functionality with as robust an entertainment offering and game library as xb1 provides.
3. Look at it this way. The xb1 basically is a smart-phone for your home. We've become conditioned to all the apps and functions that our phones provide. It's only natural that we would see something similar come to the livingroom, complete with its own social-subscription though at a far cheaper price than a typical monthly verizon bill would come to, yet can do so much more (author's note: even phone calls!)
4. MS owns some of the best selling franchises on the planet. While arguable, when speaking of AAA-console-generation-exclusives MS owns the best selling games in nearly every genre. Authors note: I have excluded casual games such as phone or wii-games as they do not directly compete with MS' offering.
5. Ease of use/pricing. There is no better time to get into all these markets for consumers. It's unlikely you bought any kind of gesture control previously (as appletv sales suck balls) and doubly unlikely you have a computer for streaming (as again, PC market is tanking), so why not up and fix all of that with one simple box? (author's note: yet to be confirmed if you still require a cable box to watch tv with xb1) For 499$, you save yourself precious livingroom space, as in order to get what xb1 offers you would need:
1. Googletv 99$ with a hard drive 49$
2. DVR cable box 1.79$ per month
3. Xbox360 99$ + kinect 99$
4. subscriptions to netflix and hulu 15$ per month
5. HD Cables 99$
6. Bluray player 99$
That's at least 2 boxes more (5 v 3) and still come out to the same price during the first month. There is so much value in the system, it's almost unheard of. It makes sense when you hear MS slogan: "All in One, xbox one"
6. Free games. Nuff said.
7. XB1 is already breaking pre-order records and is certain to outsell ps4's first week by a good margin. If you're a console gamer (and we know you are) you're going to want the system that everyone else is getting. Judging by first week sales, that's going to be xb1.
8. Just kidding, that's more than enough reasons. I'll let you pick up your brain off the floor now.
