> A decade replacement cycle for network-connected computing devices is not crazy.
The crazy part is that consumers are allowing the idiotic product lifecycles from the IT industry destroy products that, otherwise, had long and predictable lifecycles. It's shocking how the IT industry is successfully conditioning people to think it's normal to throw away otherwise working gear because "upgrades". The industry should be held to account before they take any more consumer goods hostage.
Local boring thermostats are still for sale. So are boring locks (even local-only electronic locks).
It feels like your actual beef here is that the majority of consumers are interested in buying cloud-connected gear that degrades when the vendor moves on, but you're framing their choice as "crazy".
> It feels like your actual beef here is that the majority of consumers are interested in buying cloud-connected gear that degrades when the vendor moves on, but you're framing their choice as "crazy".
My concern is that consumers don't know what they're buying. They don't know what "cloud connected" means. I don't care if people but this stuff, I care that they know what the bargain is that they're making.