[smackeyacky]

That's the "moat" that the VC crowd want. Widgets aren't enough, we all just use contract manufacturers and any secrets you have won't be secret for long.

I like to use the (now failed) Logitech Harmony Remote. The remotes were good, not the best, but good. The real value was the massive database of equipment that the users put together. Logitech ended up with a massive, crowd sourced database of infrared remote commands that made the remotes much more compelling for the users who came later.

My widgets aren't special in any particular way (except maybe the firmware). Even if somebody grabbed the firmware, the real value is in the database of stuff that the devices are gathering, because individually it's worthless but at scale it's incredibly powerful.