If you're capable of setting up open hab and know how networking works and can setup remote access it's a great option for the hacker news crowd. I'm all about self hosted, self contained solutions that dont leak data, but the vast majority of people dont want to bother or dont know how to set something like that up.
The price disparity between the control 4 stuff and the Iris, SmartThings, Revolv (RIP), wink hubs, and the like is such that you could afford to replace your controller every year for two decades and still not come close to the same cost.
The price disparity between the control 4 stuff and the Iris, SmartThings, Revolv (RIP), wink hubs, and the like is such that you could afford to replace your controller every year for two decades and still not come close to the same cost.