How I Got an Xbox

There's buzz all over the Internet about Microsoft's preview of small bit of the current build of Halo 3, one of the most highly-anticipated console games in history -- at least in our household. Having played Halo 1 and 2, we're looking forward to the release of Halo 3, although we haven't decided whether or not we want to shell out the big bucks for an Xbox 360, given how infrequently we use our Xbox these days. All this commotion has made me think about how we came to acquire our original Xbox -- and the persuasion skills of my friend Andy.

I know Andy from law school, and we used to work together at the same Silicon Valley law firm. Andy's always been a gadget guy, and back in fall 2000, a couple of weeks before the launch of the PS2, he found himself wandering through the electronics section at the local Target. To his amazement, he found a few of the coveted PS2s actually on display. He asked the woman behind the counter whether the PS2s were on sale, and, after some hemming and hawing, she responded, "I guess so." Andy simply replied, "I'll take two." Through the magic of eBay, Andy found a home for the extra PS2, and more than covered the cost of his own PS2 in the process.

So, when the Xbox came out, Andy pre-ordered four of them, thinking he might be able to once again take advantage of eBay. Unfortunately for Andy, the Xbox didn't have the same scarcity issues as the PS2, and, by late November 2001, Andy found himself desperately trying to unload his extra Xboxes. About the same time, Deborah was planning a birthday party for me. Not knowing what I wanted for my birthday, she decided to turn to my friends for help, and, by coincidence, she decided to turn to Andy.

We were still working at the same law firm back in 2001, and it wasn't uncommon for one of us to drop by the other's office from time to time. So it wasn't surprising when Andy stopped by to shoot the breeze. Given his interest in gadgets, it also wasn't surprising when he excitedly told me about all of the advanced functionality of the newly-released Xbox. I told him that I wasn't really into consoles, since I hadn't owned a console since the Atari 2600 and you could get better games on a PC. His enthusiasm for the Xbox, however, was contagious. An hour later, I was pretty fascinated by how the Xbox was optimized for game play. My inner bargain hunter was intrigued by the fact that Microsoft was supposedly losing money on each Xbox sold, in hopes of recouping its costs through game sales. That night, I found myself mentioning to Deb that, while the Xbox did cost a lot, and while I didn't think it was a very practical purchase, it did save you the hassle of purchasing a separate DVD player.

And that's how, a couple of weeks later, I was completely surprised with a Xbox for my birthday. Looking back, it can't be denied that we did get a lot of use out of the Xbox, at least for the first few years, until the built-in disc reader started acting up. Sometimes I wonder, however, what constructive uses of our time we might have made had the temptation of the Xbox not been so compelling.

Ironically, I found myself having a somewhat related conversation with my friend Stuart today. Stuart attended law school with Andy and me, and worked with us at our old law firm (in fact, he and I still work together -- now at the same Silicon Valley Internet company). Stuart told me that neither he nor Andy had purchased a wedding gift for our friend Tony yet, and he was wondering if I'd be interested in pooling our resources to buy a larger gift. I answered in the affirmative, and we chatted for a bit about what gift might be appropriate. We finally decided that the best gift for the newlyweds would be a Nintendo Wii. Naturally, we plan on putting Andy in charge of getting the best deal.

Birthday Boy

It's official -- as of yesterday, Jonathan is one year old! In that year, he's traveled once to each of Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Augusta, and Atlanta, twice to Raleigh (although within the same one-week period), and three times to LA. He's gone from drinking only breast milk to consuming your typical variety of thoroughly mashed baby foods to effectively eating what we eat -- albeit in very small pieces (and without giving up on the good ole breast milk). Starting at an even eight pounds, he has almost tripled his weight. And from being a largely unresponsive lump (except for crying), he now happily claps his hands, says "Da da da", and walks all around the house (admittedly, like a drunken sailor, but still...). Life without Jonathan would be infinitely less fun and fulfilling than life with Jonathan, and life with Jonathan is more fun and fulfilling every day. Happy birthday, buddy!