One can only hope that without the “cloudy” connection the thing will continue to function on a “dumb” level.

I actually like smart products, but this is a requirement for me. It needs to be a functional “dumb” product if internet connections/servers fail, I usually won’t buy anything I can’t verify that for (or will return it if I find out that is not the case when I test it). I never want to be stuck in a situation where I can’t turn my house lights on because the router went down, or the blinds become inoperable.

Smart features should always be on top of basic functionality, they shouldn’t be a requirement just to remove a couple physical buttons.