[KukicAdnan]

If it provides value, why not?

I have a Nest Hello and pay Nest the monthly fee to have recordings and alerts of people who come to my door. It's worth the $3/mo. If I didn't want to pay them, I could still use the doorbell as a regular dumb doorbell, but the utility it provides for the cost is worth it to me.

[throwGuardian]

I think the author implies that the hypothetical $4 service adds no value, other than changing the pricing and ownership terms. Imagine if all doorbell manufacturers decided to only sell a subscription service and not a device to own - then from a one time $50 purchase, they've milked you into $4/month for life. The camera and security will be a $4 extra, per month. Premium AI with real time face recognition (from Facebook of course) will be another $4 extra.