Those weren't rumors. It's just outdated information at this point. The whole kinect database thing is paranoia, but the used games thing and always online stuff was planned.
I'll give you something that IS a rumor.(So I'm noting that in advance) http://pastebin.com/TE1MWES2 The family share plan was less than we could've expected. It was a glorified demo system IF that post is to be believed. So this loss is much less than I originally thought. However, I still think they should've kept the system anyway, and according to that they might bring it back, it allowing you to keep save progress is unique enough. But again, rumor.
If true... he's an idiot, he's out of touch, and he's clueless I was going to write my own little rant about it, then realized it wouldn't be remotely worth the trouble
PC gaming is far better than console gaming in so many ways, but you can't really argue that it's easier to run a game. You literally just put in a disk and play. No installing, very very few crashes, no checking your hardware to see if it's at a high enough standard.