Dear Paul,
Thanks for the elaborate and insightful email.
The most interesting point you made, to me was the paradox in high-end and low-cost systems: The high-end systems lack a local interface and lack connectivity to other systems and as a consequence lose functionality when internet-connectivity is reduced. The low-cost systems rely on local connectivity and system integration and as a consequence system which can be deprived of internet connectivity (if there was any) and can be upgraded since the gateway greatly determines the 'intelligence' of the system. Of course there are many remarks to be made on this generalisation.
Kind regards, Nico