Totally understand what you are saying. I hope they start by announcing that all apps that are free elsewhere get removed from the paywall and announcing that the Xbox Gold free games thing will begin day one on Xbox One. I think that would do a lot to show that they are seriously about making it up to the consumer. At the moment, they don't really seem to care about competing. Rather they seem content with just resting on their laurels of having the best selling console in the US last generation.
Having cancelled my PS4 and looking at probably getting one of the consoles mid next year, doing the above would make the decision on which to get much tougher. As of right now it's 100% PS4 again, but just not now.
I think they need a new strategy too for sharing the system.
1. Focus on tangible benefits of Cloud/Azure Network, ala Dedicated Servers. It is a demonstrable advantage that at the moment their competitor cannot match easily at scale. There are also other ways Cloud can (and has) been helping people, so they can highlight those as well. Don't use it to try to wade into a tech war that most people agree they've already lost. It is a very poor strategy to keep intentionally bringing up your [relative] weaknesses.
2. Focus on the justifying the value through genuine brand diversification. I.e., showcase the Kinect and what it can do prominently. That may seem counter intuitive for us hardcore gamers, but they went with a certain design philosophy for the system and for some reason seem afraid to unabashedly push it. I don't even like the technology and i think they're advertising the system wrong. Unfortunately they're late with their Kinect flagship game, but if they could change time, they should focus on bringing two big Kinect titles around launch developed internally that specifically aim to highlight the ways the tech has improved. Project Spark is also a good tool and everyone can use it, don't need Gold. Put it front and center more, it's quite innovative and appeals to casuals and hardcore alike.
3. As you said, demonstrate their willingness to not only go back on bad decisions as they did with the 180s, but maybe take an extra step and 'apologize' by removing most apps from the paywall like PS4 and Wii U. If the competition is doing it, there is very little justification for them to do it other than milking consumers. We accepted it before, but the competition is heating up, and with everything that has occurred it's the sort of gesture that can regain a ton of goodwill they lost. Most people are still going to buy XBL, so the loss would be relatively minor by comparison to the gains in gamer goodwill.
4. They claimed they had a very special 'digital future' planned for the XBO before the 180s, and said several features that existed as reason this would make people want it. Well, despite everything, most of those features can still happen in a post-180 world. There is no reason, for example, they could not do some form of family sharing or offer compelling digital features or game switching. If they want to convince people these sorts of things would be worth an eventual shift, it's important they start demonstrating slowly the types of things we'd be able to do and how they'd handle it. Specifically, they should have a special digital incentive program that gives many benefits to those who buy digitally, including substantive discounts on EVERY day one release (say like PC, $40-$50 instead of $60), digital "bonuses" like soundtracks, maps, documentaries, etc. They should have Steam like features that also show they can hang with the best. In this way, they begin to not only advocate for a digital future in a convincing manner, but also provide an environment that starts to differentiate itself from its other primary competitors.
5. Razor focus on games. Diversification is key. Variety is key. Take risks. Don't settle into a 'comfort zone' where you release a bunch of unique and varied stuff in the first year or two, and then just repeat sequels on four of them for the rest of the gen. I think they're actually doing a really good job with their exclusive lineup for the first year, and their launch stuff really appeals to me even more than PS4 (Crimson Dragon, Forza 5, Dead Rising 3), but they have to continue that into the future. Of course right now it's too early to say if that will be the case, of if they'd begin to drop off like they did at the end of 360's life once they shifted to Kinect crap