They're a device as a service...you buy them with the expectation that they are useless without that back-end, and if that back-end changes or goes away the devices may offer some limited local functionality but probably will do nothing.
I support this effort, but I also have to understand that these people are buying a Corvette and bitching that the gasoline and insurance costs are higher than a Subaru wagon, and that the car won't run without that gasoline.
That Subaru is going to get expensive too when that CVT inevitably shits itself.
I wouldn't know. Mine is a 5-speed.
Ah, well you're good for at least 20 years then.
Exactly. There are tons of alternative doorbell cameras out there, you don't even need a Ring camera.
One way to do this is to replace the hardware with an ESP32. There are tons of cheap boards. It's not that hard.
But! Ring is cheap and convenient, so people buy them. However, when you buy into Ring, you also buy into Amazon's infrastructure. Not unlike crApple.
Some people are comfortable with buying into that ecosystem. Hey, rock on.
Some are not. They may have the skills to re-engineer firmware. Rock on.