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> It just seems like a slow boil into subscriptions for a company whose entire value prop is prosumer networking without the contracts.

On the other side... look at the status quo in access control systems. If you never did, be happy you never had to because the status quo is shit because the entire ecosystem is suffering from a severe lack of money - for physical locks, most people buy the cheapest shit they can get at Home Depot or whatnot, and for "fancy" stuff involving smartphones they do just the same, or order right from Alibaba. And that is a damn horror show.

Ubiquiti, for all I dislike the trend for recurring revenue everywhere, at least makes high quality and secure stuff - but with anything interconnected, keeping updates available costs recurring expenses. So it's either "the product is cheap ass and will likely have multiple bypasses in a year or two", "the product is extremely expensive but you will get updates for a reasonable time" or "the product is affordable, but costs recurring money".

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