In the larger picture, it's because the tech industry started packaging every imaginable piece of hardware as a loss leader for subscription services. That's a big reason why it's really hard to get a high quality dumb TV.

Hopefully, hopefully this new trend can break the cycle of using software to turn things into subscription services that should never be subscription services. I'm terrified that manufactures will respond with hardware encryption and legal maneuvering, but perhaps by then there will be an even larger and thriving ecosystem of open hardware as the ease of setting it up and integrating it with AI accelerates its adoption.