While I've found the combination of HE + NR to be very compelling it's not for everyone. RM and the lighter weight apps are great for most people who just want things to work out of the box.
With the introduction of more and more useful HE apps from both the staff and community devs the functional "need" for external systems is reduced. However resource utilization will always be an issue given the HW constraints. One way to mitigate this is by adding yet another HE with the radios off using it exclusively for apps / virtual devices. Another is by connecting a platform agnostic system like NR - externally separating the logic from the device management in a user controlled opensource platform.
Either strategy has advantages/disadvantages and are not mutually exclusive - I generally favor the NR approach as it seems to be the most flexible for my use-case. Having said that certain HE apps like the Alexa Skill are very useful and so am in the process of enlisting an old C-4 with no usb stick to handle all cloud and networking apps. I like being able to isolate that stuff from the rest of my setup.
