They won't change their stance, due to a number of factors that create a house of cards.
The biggest is also the simplest: games are run from the hard-drive.
This means that every game is designed with the speed of the hard-drive as the read speed. This is why it's not replaceable, because they need the hardware consistency as developers are relying on it to over-come the slower Blu-Ray drive Microsoft are using.
It is also why the internet requirement exists in the first place - though Microsoft doubled down on it, with the users not requiring the disc to play after the game has been installed. This is why the console needs to phone-home every 24 hours, and why the internet requirement exists.
If they remove the internet requirement, they can no longer authenticate their games, meaning they can no longer allow them to be installed from the hard-drive. Which they cannot do, because Developers are relying on it now.
The stop-gap fix is, of course, allowing the system to use the game disc in the tray as verification. However, this would re-enable open game trading, destroying the already inked deals Microsoft have with Publishers, and retailers, to prevent this.
Microsoft can't remove a feature, because it brings the house of cards crashing down. This leaves Microsoft with only one real option: price. However, as Microsoft is infamously commented with the Surface Tablet, it refuses to be seen as the "cheap alternative" and so prices it's products to match the best of their competitors. It's why the Surface Pro tablet is ridiculously expensive, and is utterly failing to compete with iPad in any market.
They've dug themselves into a whole with the feature set that cannot be altered. And their arrogance prevents them from changing the price tag.
This console is going to be a spectacular failure - a perfect storm of bad ideas, hubris and the worst consumer feedback I've ever seen for a consumer electronics device in my entire life.