So kinect is still needed for the majority of the system. I don't know why you guys get so hyped about this, we've known about settings to turn off the kinect during games. But then you won't be able to use skype or whatever else is needed for kinect. I still believe Kinect is the system. Until they give us the option to completely not need kinect for anything, I'm out still.
"Until Sony gives us the option to not need the blu-ray drive for anything on PS3, I'm out!"
"Until Apple gives us the option to never use the retina screen for anything, I'm out!"
Of course, it's perfectly fine for a consumer to not feel a company's product is worth the money, but there seems to be a few folks that seem to operate as if MS just has Kinect bundled for shits and giggles, and not because they feel like it's a worthwhile part of their product. (just using your post as a jumping off point)
The only thing this specific announcement addresses is:
1) edge case (but valid) situations where the Kinect breaks, or if it's at a fighting game tournament with non-Kinect games.
2) People who are paranoid about Kinect watching/listening to them
It's the same thing with the 24hr check being removed. Removing that doesn't mean they're going to ignore Xbox Live and now design everything around people who play offline JRPG's all day (not that there's anything wrong with that! heh)