Seth Martin

Utilitarianism in Today's World: A Look at the XBox 360

       John Stuart Mill wrote in 1861 that we as a society should try to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number of people.  He called this theory Utilitarianism.  What he was saying was that for a society to flourish, all members of that society should act in a way so that makes the most members the happiest.  To put it succinctly, if a road needed to be built to make everyone's lives easier, but it would make one family have to move because their house was in the way, utilitarianism would say the family should move because more people will benefit if they do.  This theory has never been more in need of being put into practice than right now.  I of course am talking about the current situation of the XBox 360.

The XBox 360 is Microsoft's successor to their original XBox video game console, referred to during development as "Xenon", "XBox 2", "XBox Next", or "Next Box." (wikipedia)  It has a monster ATI R500-based Xenos graphics processing unit and 512 megs of RAM.  It is truly a sight to behold.  Unfortunately, not everyone can get their hands on them due to two factors: price and availability.  There is not a question that everyone would be better off with one of these devices, and thus following the guidelines of utilitarianism, a few simple steps need to be taken to ensure that everyone can get an XBox 260. 

       The first obstacle is price.  The simple answer is for retailers to just lower prices so that more people could afford the 360.  Common teenage allowances are around twenty dollars per week, so perhaps twenty dollars would be a fair price to pay.  Another idea is to employ a coupon system.  Different ages would receive different coupons for different prices to pay.  For example, a 16-year-old such as myself obviously needs an XBox 360 more than a 10-year-old, because their minds haven't fully developed yet to the point where they can take full advantage of it.  Also because their bedtimes are earlier so they wouldn't get as much use of it anyway.  So 16-year-olds would get coupons for free 360s whereas 10-year-olds would get a coupon for a forty-dollar XBox, or two weeks' worth of work.  Another idea is to employ a trade-in system.  You could trade in your old XBox for a new 360.  You would get a new 360, some games, and also a little bit of money back, because the older XBoxes will become collector's items and worth more. 

The second issue is availability.  It is the holiday season and Microsoft has not yet made enough 360s to go around.  The government needs to demand that Microsoft step up production, working nights and weekends until demand is met.  Sony should help out with production until the PS3 is ready.  Until it is ready, there is no reason their factories can't help out making 360s.  Other companies should help, too.  For instance, it is winter and there isn't as much surfing, so surfboard companies could use their factories as well to make new 360s.  There are probably also some ice cream companies that could help because people don't buy as much ice cream in the winter.

If we are to follow John Stuart Mill's perfect idea of Utilitarianism, we must get an XBox 360 into the hands of every American.  No one will argue the level of happiness that will come from this.  By following these steps, this is not a unttainable idea.