Xbox 360 defects: an inside history of Microsoft’s video game console woes on VentureBeat is an extremely in-depth article by Dean Takahashi looking at the hardware problems on the Xbox 360 that result in the notorious "red ring of death." The article offers a pretty scathing look at Microsoft's approach to the situation, saying they were well aware of hardware issues before launch, but were too intent on beating the competition to the market to address them properly, instead counting on their ability to improve upon the design as they went along, but failing to allocate enough resources to properly do this. This prompts a quote from an anonymous veteran manufacturing executive saying: “Fundamentally, their thinking shows that they are a software company at heart. They put something out and figure they can fix it with the next patch or come up with a bug fix." The article talks about the extent of these hardware problems, and Microsoft's extreme resistance to admitting to the problem, and even now Takahashi says he contacted MS for comment on 35 specific points from the article, and received a statement in reply saying: "This topic has already been covered extensively in the media. This new story repeats old information, and contains rumors and innuendo from anonymous sources, attempting to create a new sensational angle, and is highly irresponsible." Thanks Mike Martinez and Gizmodo.