It is very much "Ikea-like" to make some kit that is easy to put together and modular-ly expandable but not necessarily compatible with what you buy at your local furniture store. I can see somebody back in Delft (yeah, HQ ain't in Sweden anymore) saying, "we need to offer product in this space because it would integrate with other things we want to sell into the efficient home of the 21st Century. Bjørn, go find somebody that can help make this happen for us". Without a lot of deliberate exclusivity as much as "just make it walk-out-the-door simple for our customers".
So unfortunately they have an assortment of stuff that is well priced but some lacking in generic HA usability. Probably more out of oversight/lack of caring than purposeful exclusivity (unless their manufacturer cut corners or tried to maintain the exclusivity).
If only Ikea could get the message that "hey, your stuff ain't bad...tell your outsourced manufacturer to be more attentive to the standards (and things working with other hubs) and you might find it flying off your shelves instead of just sitting there where many Ikea shoppers just pass right by it".
So where does this fit with the topic? I don't think Hubitat should chase too far down non-standard nooks & crannies (thus the decision on Ikea stuff despite the ubiquity of Ikea). The reality is they are going to need to follow some middle course with what the Big Three do so that HE stays relevant.
It's just a shame we can't do better techno-societally to encourage players (with our $) to play well together and leverage the good-of-the-whole vs trying to lock us up in their respective silos. I mean a company could still make a lot of money building a reputation for making really reliable STANDARD ADHERING kit without having to go proprietary.
