BitBabbler had one, too. Engineer said it was the simplest, cheapest, "dumb" product they could find for USB in that form factor or packaging. So, that problem is apparently going around. It might help if someone in open-source hardware would make one with similar attributes. It will cost money because ASIC's ain't cheap.

There are tons of great alternatives:

http://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/alternatives-to-ftdi-us...

many of those support the USB serial class so they don't even need a driver.

My personal favorite is CH340g, used in many new Arduino clones:

https://hackaday.com/2014/12/02/finding-a-cheaper-usb-to-ser...

Thanks. I'll look at them later and forward them to various people if I like them.