For the first mod, Ben increases mobility during game play by using ribbon cable and a replicated version of the original circuit board to sync a full-size, left hand controller with a half-size, right hand controller.

ENGADGET: Ben Heck splits and condenses a pair of Xbox 360 controllers for the disabled

But they do have their own style: featureless, virtually deserted buildings, full of marching rows of high-tech servers and routers fed by thick bundles of cable, their cooling fans forming a roaring chorus in the chilly gloom.

ECONOMIST: How the internet works

In fact, it's the exact opposite: most consumers choose to get by with awful cable- or satellite-company DVRs, and TiVo's only just barely pulled a full year of profitability, two factors that have kept it firmly on deathwatch since 2005.

ENGADGET: Ten years of TiVo: how far we haven't come