Lesson 1: Don't buy stuff like this that depends on an online component to locally control your electronics.
Lesson 2: Don't buy Logitech, as they make the things from lesson 1. The new hub is the same as the old hub and will probably break once they get tired of its online service too.
So does Phillips, when they remotely nuked 3rd party light bulbs. The 3rd parties used their specs that were available. But that didn't matter. Something something profit. (They too reversed their decision after a few days of really bad press. I'm just waiting for them to reverse it again, with less internet fanfare.)
My bigger question here is of "reasonable sale" and CFAA. How are these NOT violations of the CFAA? Cause I can think of no customer who bought the Phillips Hue sets who wanted the "feature" of 'nuke 3rd party bulbs'.
And yeah, it's only time when Phillips, Logitech, and the rest of IoT crap gets remote-nuked. Give me MQTT/CoAP/AMQP or you can keep your shit!
(And yeah, this topic, like my name, makes me CRANKY. My hardware is mine, and I expect that the vendor I buy stuff from doesn't vandalize or destroy functionality now or in the future. That's vandalism, computer hacking, and/or fraudulent transaction. Take your pick.)
UPDATE: I didn't mention what I'd like as a way forward. Sure, I'm OK with updates as long as they FIX problems, and potentially add features. My ideal setup is: supports basic MQTT/CoAP/AMQP with local server, along with their proprietary cloud control. If cloud control bails, you might lose add-on value but you can re-implement yourself. The devices don't end up dead, just temporarily reduced. You might have to buy a VPS, or poke a hole in your firewall and do the dyndns song and dance..
It would be nice if there were a clear, unambiguous logo that we as consumers could look for, which designated that the device does not require the internet to function or to be activated. I'm envisioning a picture of cloud with a red "X" over it.
It's about time companies disclosed in their specifications whether or not a product functions without their permission.
That would be like having a logo that indicates a food product is not poisonous. The expectation should be that hardware does not require internet access to function. If it does it should be prominently disclosed.
Sadly there is a lot of truly great stuff you'll miss out on, if you rigorously apply Lesson 1. My smart sprinkler controller and thermostat are examples.
(Needless phone-home stuff is another matter, all the risk with no value add)
Why does a sprinkler system or a thermostat need a backing Internet service? I can see an Internet connection, receive-only for remote control, but why would they need to transmit anything out of the home to a hosted service?
A variety of reasons; for example, the ubiquity of NAT plus the use of sleep modes means it's painful to get smartphone apps to talk directly to the hardware in question. Far easier and more reliable to have a hosted intermediary.
Additionally, the thermostat supports demand-response features (where your utility shuts off the thermostat), and can even pre-warm or pre-cool before the demand-response event as needed. The sprinkler controller checks the weather and works out optimal scheduling. Both receive regular firmware updates, and feed telemetrics back to the company for further improvement of their firmware.
Technically all of this could be done independent of their own hosted service, such that everything would still run normally without it. But there's a lot of connected features, and integrating a centralized hosted service simply makes everything far easier to develop.
At which point keeping a centralized service out of the equation becomes a feature requiring money & manpower to develop- a feature most customers don't care about, at that. (And let's be honest, what company wants to spend their energy on a future where they are out of business?)
