I am still trying to figure out why Matter matters. What exactly can I do now that I couldn't do without Matter?
I wouldn't buy a Wifi home automation device, unless I really needed it and there was no other viable option.
That's the long & short of it for me too... I'm looking at it as opening up more possibilities rather than solving missing functionality or a gap along those lines
But since I don't have any immediate needs, I'm not likely to play around with any Matter stuff until its entire ecosystem/structure matures a LOT more.
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2 flavors of Matter devices. WiFi and Thread. You can kind of think of Thread + Matter= next generation Zigbee (the old Zigbee group is in charge of Matter). Thread devices require a border router.
A number of us in the beta were in this camp, we had everything we needed already (+ spares) in Zigbee & Z-Wave devices, and purchased Matter devices just so we could play. I did find uses for the four Matter plugs I purchased, but they were definitely primarily nice-to-haves rather than needed devices.
I expect that Z-Wave users felt somewhat the same way when Zigbee devices started showing up. 
I think the hoped for interoperability across platforms is supposed to be one of the main "big deals" about Matter, one device controllable from whichever interface you want to use. Not there yet, and the on-boarding process can also be a mess at this point. WIP, definitely.
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For me the main benefit:
You can use the same device in the manufacturer's app, hubitat, google home, amazon alexa, apple home, etc. All at the same time/interchangeably.
For some people using their device "where they want", instead of being locked in the vendor app or a single ecosystem, is important. For some it isn't, though. 
The benefit from a manufacturer's standpoint is that they can make a single device that works on all those different ecosystems. Thus reducing the # of SKUs, reducing development cost, and increasing the customer base for a single device.
Should encourage them to make more devices... More audience = more potential sales = more profit = more devices.... In theory anyway.
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I understand that. So, we will eventually have Z-wave, Zigbee and Matter/Thread. Don't mean to be a party-pooper, but I'm having a difficult time getting excited.
Don't we already have that, with devices that correctly implement the zwave or zigbee protocols?
Sort of like primary and secondary z-wave controllers, conceptually at least? I suppose that might be a nice-to-have feature. Still not excited though 
I don't think our goal is to get you excited. At least it's not mine... 
Some folks are going to love Matter and some could care less, usual normal curve will apply.
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I'm in the beta as well and if I had a C8 I might have done the same, not that I really need yet something else to compete for my time.
I suppose I should buy a C8 just to support Hubitat, but I'm deathly afraid of going down that rabbit hole. In the home we recently purchased, I have 50+ Inovelli Blue switches and a lot of Hue bulbs and downlight retrofits, along with a few other miscellaneous Zigbee devices. Given the horror stories about C8 and Zigbee, I'm not ready to migrate and take the chance that my entire house will be reduced to a smoldering pule of rubble. My WAF is unusually high and it doesn't bother her when something doesn't work the way it's supposed to, but it drives me absolutely nuts.
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But I want to believe, I really do... 
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Just thinking outside the box here...send me $150 and I'll buy one in your name.
Big envy eyes here... 
The Kool Aide pitcher and 24oz glasses are at the back of the room there...
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Think of it this way. There is a lot of neat stuff out there. Take locks. We have very limited options in terms of locks for either z-wave or zigbee. But as more locks come out they will be matter and have a lot of nifty features. Same with mm wave sensors, certain types of lights etc. I mean there is no reason to replace anything you currently have, but having matter opens things up even more for the types of devices that you can bring in.
Not really, no.
Example - if I have a zwave device today paired to Hubitat there is not really any LOCAL way today to use them in hubitat, alexa, and google home at the same time.
Cloud ways to do it? Sure. Local? Not really.
Whereas If it were a Matter device, regardless if it were paired to Alexa, Google Home, or any other Matter controller that supports it, I could use it in all Matter controllers I pair it to locally and at the same time.
Again, that might not matter to you. It may matter to others.
EDIT: And for bonus points... If Hubitat adds Matter bridge capability in the future, I could then use most of my zwave/zigbee devices LOCALLY in Alexa and Google Home too... No way to do that today at all.
So the future could add even more LOCAL options, which is a good thing.
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Thread is not only Matter and Matter is not only Thread. Thread devices existed before Matter as an alternative to other mesh networks. What Matter does, it takes Thread and Wi-Fi devices and makes them available on the local network to any Matter controller. Matter brings local processing to devices that historically required a cloud API. So more local devices from different places is a good thing, not a bad thing.
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The first thing I'm going to declare is my total ignorance of thread/matter. I've done very little research. Of the limited reading and poking about today, I believe I'm going to need another controller of some sort.
I then connect 'matter' devices to this controller. I then connect this controller to my C8 so that I have access to these devices. Is this the gist of it?
My next question is, what are these 'matter. controllers. In my reading people have mentioned Apple/Google etc. What Apple/Google devices?
Sorry if this is a really dumb set of questions but I really haven't researched this and have very limited knowledge about it.
Maybe this should be split to a separate thread, oops, topic of it's own to discuss the basics.
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I would start here. It explains most, if not all, of what you asked - including an example list of supported Matter Thread Border Routers (for Thread based Matter devices).
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Thanks. Oops. 
How did I miss that.
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Ok, interesting idea. But there would have to be some way to manage this. I have 6 Alexa devices in my house (and several more sitting in a box). It would not be practical to pair the 50 or so Inovelli switches I have to all 6 of those Alexas if it required 300 individual pairings (assuming I flashed the Inovellis to use Matter when that becomes available).
Also interesting, but that would likely require replacing all of the echo devices I'd think. If I say "Alexa turn on the dining room light", does any current Alexa device have the computing power to decipher and execute that locally? Execute sure, but local voice recognition and processing in a device at the price point Echos are sold at?
Nevertheless, I get what you're saying. No doubt there are future possibilities and it's great that HE supports if for no other reason then it shows they are keeping on top of emerging technologies.
There are no dumb questions. I am sure many share your concerns. In addition to what @JasonJoel shared, there is this Wiki I started a while ago that has details on how to connect (commission) Matter devices using the 4 most popular controllers: [Wiki] Connecting Matter devices to Hubitat Elevation
You almost nailed it. You connect a device to one of these controllers using the QR or setup code from the device, then you get a new key for that controller - a Matter setup code (11 digits) - and use that code to pair the device to Hubitat.
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Alexa devices pair to the account, not the individual Alexa device...
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By "local network" do you mean wifi? So a Matter/Thread device has 2 radios, one to communicate using Thread and another to make the device visible on a wifi network?
