[nlh]

I wouldn't be so quick to assume they're being shortsighted. I have no idea what the details are, but I've got to assume they have very explicit data about who and how many people convert from free to paid tiers and that they're taking this data into account.

Again, assumptions here, but maybe they found that only a very small % of users start with a completely free 24/7 app and move to paid? Maybe the folks who convert start with a low-utilization (<= 12 hrs/day), hence the limit.

I dunno. I'm just guessing that there's some logic behind the decisions.