http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-failed-at-nearly-everyt...
I'm still disappointed, but Windows 8 taught me to expect nothing less from Sinofsky.
If you've followed CES over the years (maybe you have) then you know the incredible pains consumers have gone through with physical button remotes--trying to make IR work, trying to figure out what grids of tiny buttons do (with shift keys no less), trying to customize physical button remotes to control multiple devices and more.
If you've tried to put in a security camera or other monitor you might have noticed how unsightly the wires can be when you put them where you want to see. Or how impossible it is to put one at an outside door where there are no outlets. Of course having mains is compelling but this is another trend that we experience in mobile that turns out to be pretty convenient for many uses.
You might think an ethernet cable is one cable to rule them all, but the jack is very large and almost no homes have those jacks on more than one wall of any room (if that). And many systems (in particular lighting) were controlled using ethernet cable from each outlet. But those were all based on proprietary home runs and routed to the electrical panel not data location and so you ended up with a "one cable to rule them all" legacy wiring that was quite costly.
Just a few thoughts.
* No local storage: Great, I didn't want control over my data anyway. Yay!
* No wires: Now I have to spend 5-15 minutes configuring every new device, even if it's sitting right next to or on top of the device it communicates with. Yay!
* No buttons: Because tactile feedback is so overrated, and who doesn't want yet another poorly written and barely supported app on their phone to ensure it barely makes it through the day on a single charge? Yay!
* Almost, no mains: Who doesn't want to replace every single device in their life every couple of years? Your permanently installed security camera that never moves has a dead battery? Psh, no we don't sell replacement batteries, just buy a whole new camera! The latest version has 10 new features you don't want and will never use. Yay!
Edit: Another gem later in the article:
>In addition, there are more specialized (and harder to make) controllers for legacy home systems like garage door remotes, water heater, sprinkler, and so on.
My water heater is a "legacy system" now? Why, because it doesn't have built in WiFi allowing me to control its temperature in half degree increments from work? If the world was really like the image portrayed by the article's over-eager author, we never would have survived the horrible dark ages of the 1990's.