[jacquesm]

Any piece of hardware that has a contrived monthly fee attached to it should be avoided.

[latortuga]

Satellite TV? Tivo? Hell most internet connections are this. A bit of an over-generalization.

[jacquesm]

No, not really. Those are not contrived, they simply wouldn't function without the online component.

But this devices would works as good, or even better if it did not need outside connectivity.

It's just a way to turn a device into a service.