That was also very easy out of the box, far easier than WiFi Device
I am not sure why you are doubling down on WiFi being easier, it is not
The reason these companies are going for WiFi is because they want to Lock People into continue Telemetry being sent to the cloud, not local hubs.
It has nothing to do with ease of access, or consumer friendly and everything to do with Lock in, and Privacy violating data collection
No offense, but I think you've already proved that your perspective is a bit skewed towards the technical. I don't understand how buying and installing a hub, then installing an app to connect with that hub, and then using that app to pair is somehow easier than installing and app, and then using that app to pair.
> It has nothing to do with ease of access...
Looking at Amazon, I'm seeing many times the reviews for WiFi smart switches. This would make it appear that people are purchasing them. Why? Are they already locked in? My theory is that people see the product description, see WiFi, and say "I have that!". People see Zigbee or "hub" and say "I don't have that, it's $50 more!". If we could do a word count for "incompatible" between the two, I'm sure it would be many times lower for WiFi devices. I know I see that word often when I look through Z-Wave and Zigbee reviews.
> all running Transmitting to Nortek GoControl USB stick attached to a rPI running Home Assistant
> and FAR FAR simpler to setup than WiFi
These two sentences are absolutely silly, for that average consumer. An average consumer can install a proprietary app in a few minutes and is totally uninterested in installing operating systems on little computers.