[bigfudge]

You're right but you won't have a choice. Many devices will require connection to the internet to be configured, and you won't always know ahead of time what they are because most people won't care enough to put it in a review. For example it drives me crazy that my washing machine beeps for over an hour when it's done... I don't care - just stop making that noise... However, it's impossible to search for "doesn't beep like crazy" when buying a new product on amazon.

[VLM]

>Many devices will require connection to the internet to be configured

Impossible. My bachelor pad apartment came with a washer and dryer. Those need to work without the building owner paying $50/month for internet access for a clothes washer. Maybe you could write into the lease terms that the appliances only work if the tenant pays for internet access. Imagine if the thermostat refused to turn on the heat because there's no internet access because no tenant, then the pipes freeze in winter...

Likewise my MiL does not do internet. She has no computer, tablet, smartphone... but she does have a lot of retirement income. Most of the VCRs in the USA blinked 12:00 because most VCR owners were uninterested in using that appliance to set up timed recording. A VCR that forced owners to set the clock before it would play back rented tapes would never survive in the market. She has one of those smart TVs that spy on people and spam them, because she liked the style of the case (bezel, stand, etc), but its not connected to the internet and never will be.

UI design is beyond human ability today, and will only get worse. I have one of those "efficient" nearly silent clothes washers and it drives me crazy that there's no way to predict when it'll finish, because it spin cycles until water stops coming out, etc. So from an efficiency standpoint I want to move damp clothes as fast as possible into my dryer, but the darn thing quietly plays an annoying little song once and then goes silent. I wish it beeped for an hour. Most UI design choices are made solely to impress other UI designers, therefore the user is left out. This is an extremely bad portent for the UI for internet of things.

There's just too much money to be ignored in places without internet access.

[compactmani]

I can't see how any appliance would be required to be online for use or configuration. Even every laptop off the shelf doesn't have such a requirement. The only device I know that does is a smart phone (maybe?).

[tremon]

Just as an example: the Logitech Harmony range of remotes. The only way to program those remotes is to go through Logitech's application portal.

I'm not saying it has to be done that way; I'm just saying that it is.

[gvb]

Even every laptop off the shelf doesn't have such a requirement.

While Windows activation can be done offline, for all practical purposes it + Windows Update requires you to be online.

I help an older lady with her technical struggles. Recently she moved into a retirement home and does not currently have internet access for her laptop. Microsoft Office started bitching about it being an illegal copy presumably because it could not phone home and verify her license. Sigh.