About the 360 hardware failures..

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by thatmariolover

It was actually a popular theory in the beginning of the 360's lifespan. However, they finally decided that moving it from vertical to horizontal or vice versa while a spinning disc was inside was what caused most of the scratches.

Sadly I know that from first hand experience.

But even when my console is completely stationary I find that it scratches up my discs to no avail. I've tried both horizontally and vertically. I really don't know.
The only positive is the games still work.