Repurposing the X box

• A Change in Focus: This writer's devotion to X box has fallen away; the preference now is to instead craft fabric or browse flea markets.
• A Practical Choice: The poor resale value of the console led this writer to dust off a wired keyboard and power up the X box instead of selling it.
• Connectivity Issues: The console is somewhat hobbled because its built-in Bluetooth functionality is reserved for officially approved peripherals.
• The Browsing Solution: To improve the future experience, this writer has ordered a wired keyboard with an integrated mouse trackball. The browser app is noted to be similar to the desktop version.
• Drafting Blog Entries: This writer can now easily type up blog drafts by using a command in the browser's search window, turning the screen into a scratchpad. Then this writer scanned the displayed text from the teevee screen to the smartphone using character recognition software on the smartphone.
  
• Media and News: Browsing almost passively and watching YouTube online is an enjoyable new pastime. It was via the X box that this writer recently saw the news about the demise of the famous Japanese cat, Maru.
• Security Concerns: This writer does not store site passwords on the system, a precaution taken after past experiences when the service wiped out passwords.
• Subscription Plans: Understanding that X box online has new subscription tiers, this writer may walk to 7-Eleven to purchase a refill card for the service.

The console has clearly been repurposed from a high-powered gaming machine into a almost functional, keyboard-driven media and browsing station.