Saw this over on NeoGaf

We still believe in Kinect. We aren’t interested in splitting the development base. The more demos I’ve seen, the more I’ve used it – the more impressed I am. The team feels strongly about Kinect, and I hope we’re able to prove that when you use it. 

We also have a ton of privacy settings to allow people to turn off the camera, or microphones, or put it in a state just for “Xbox On” and IR blasting – there will be a lot of user control for that. 

The thing we all understood, and hence this change, is that there are some scenarios where people just may not be comfortable. We wanted people to be 100% comfortable, so we allow the sensor to be unplugged. And clearly the “it dropped” scenario is possible. 

The most obvious thing is watching a DVD/BD, or streaming a movie, or HDMI pass-through, your experience isn’t impacted (except you miss voice and IR blasting)

There is no “gotcha”, but obviously, if there is a game that REQUIRES Kinect (like Rivals), or something where Kinect IS the experience (like Skype), those won’t work. 

That said, for people who have privacy concerns there are user control settings, which we believe are great.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=76053443&postcount=338

I really hope these expensive mandatory peripherals don't become a trend. First the Wii U tablet and now the Kinect camera. I can't be the only one who just wants a good value console with a comfortable controller and good games right?

I want a modern phone with no camera and screen on it. I can't be the only one who just wants a good value phone with a speakerphone and a microphone.

That's funny Microsoft, you see I have this thing called a USB headset that allows Skype conversations just fine right now.

Evidently he's talking about on Xbox One.

And the reason they won't support a headset with One Skype is...?

There could be a couple of reasons :

1. They didn't plan to have the Kinect sensor turned off and the software package has been written to only accomodate that.  This could be resolved of course, but today maybe not - but within 90 days should be no problem.

2. they don't want to.  Simply, they want to integrate the Kinect experience and want it that way.

Also, they could allow for the headset, and just haven't admitted it(like a few other things that they have not admitted)

Kinect less SKU=Less support for the platform
Xbox+Kinect is currently garning alot of attention from developers such as that game company just imagine what those guys could do with the technology as a gamer this excites me.

Ding Ding Ding

Good! Hope-full this will silence most of the complainers. Removing Kinect would be worse than say the people that didn't want rumble and wireless in their controllers 'for fear of radiation' or exploding batteries on their lap. Never underestimate the power of unfounded fears.

The advances in the Natural User Interface are worth so much more than $100. I'm actually glad the next gen twins aren't all that expensive.