Released in 2013, Xbox One immediately created a schism in their own hardware by offering a more powerful version and a less powerful version. The entire console life cycle came and went, and a few years later the “Xbox Series” series of consoles did the same thing, with an “S” model and an “X” model. But here we are in 2026. It feels like half of the catalog for the Xbox SERIES consoles were released to be compatible with the Xbox ONE consoles. My Xbox Series X sits in a literal closet, gathering dust, doing nothing but slowly turning in to e-waste. Meanwhile, prices of current gen hardware keep going up, and next gen hardware looks like it’s being pushed further and further out, and prices starting over a thousand dollars and expected to be $1,500 or more seem outlandish. nVidia announced that even PC Hardware, like the RTX 5090 are no longer being sold as gaming GPUs, but exclusively for AI purposes.
We clearly have not reached peak AI, as prices continue to go up. But what if a company like Microsoft, a company that already has billions of dollars worth of hardware available to consumers, found a way to capitalize on that position, while simultaneously tapping in to the good-will of people who want to see technology recycled? What if, for possibly the first time in human history, an existing product could be transformed in to a brand new product?
Here’s the proposal:
Microsoft could potentially sell a software package – a USB stick that you could buy at Best Buy – that you could plug in to your Xbox One X, and turn it in to your in-home AI Appliance.
Want a better / stronger / faster AI appliance? Do the same thing with the Xbox Series S, or the Series X. Charge even more for the ability to “dualboot” back and forth so you could still use it as an Xbox Gaming Console, or a reduced fee for people who want to “convert” it from a gaming console to an AI appliance.
Is it a 5090? No. But that’s not the market they’re courting. Microsoft has the opportunity to make Copilot what they wanted Cortana to be back on Windows 8. They could turn old hardware into a home-appliance which could serve as Microsoft’s answer to Amazon’s Alexa, with enough power to go far beyond those basic features, while not quite as far as the people building RTX Spark powered systems.
Attack the middle of the market and you don’t need to sell hardware that immediately prices you out of the competition. Sell “OS Conversion kits” that take existing hardware that you’ve already sold and gives it a new lease on life. It garners a ton of good will, while making your product the affordable offering for the average consumer.
If Microsoft were to sell these conversion kit USB drives to consumers anywhere from $399 and under, I firmly believe they would tap in to an undiscovered market of people willing to re-purpose old and even current Xbox One X and Xbox Series X consoles. This could be the place your new Microsoft Autopilot agent lives… your Copilot’s Copilot? The agent orchestrator? The flight instructor? Call it what you want to, but don’t call it a bad idea. It may not SOLVE hardware shortages, but it does provide a work-around. And lets people get their feet wet in an affordable way, making future products more desirable.