Awful examples. Running your own server for this wouldn't have to mean learning to code your own firmware for their hardware, it wouldn't even have to mean being tech-savvy enough to install something like apache.
Lockitron could chose to release their hardware with that already done, so it plugs into the router and is ready to go. In that case, there are no benefits of the cloud, and the downside that it adds an extra possible point of failure. An example that would fit your comment, but not your theory, better is "you probably don't run your own router control panel web server". How many routers want you to control them through their manufacturer's remote servers, rather than just having an HTTP server built in? And is that in some way as time-consuming as grinding your own flour or making your own furniture?
Sure, as it stands right now, you might not be able to buy a Lockitron device and run it yourself quite as easily as using their servers. But this chain of comments isn't discussing "which choice should buyers make", it's "is their use of buzz words justified when they say 'main advantage [...] is that everything is in the cloud'", and frankly I don't think that's an advantage over a system where all devices run their own servers.
Sure there are benefits. The keys are backed up remotely and you have access off-premises. If anything goes wrong, presumably you can call up tech support and they can access the system without your opening ports on your router or messing with a firewall. It could make administration (and reliability) much better.
They may not be benefits that you want, but they're the benefits that Lockitron are stressing.
(Personally, I'm happy with a key and, FWIW, my parents don't run their own control panel on their Vodafone local cell-network box - they call up the service people and they access the box remotely. So I can happily agree with your comparison too, if you like.)
Lockitron could chose to release their hardware with that already done, so it plugs into the router and is ready to go. In that case, there are no benefits of the cloud, and the downside that it adds an extra possible point of failure. An example that would fit your comment, but not your theory, better is "you probably don't run your own router control panel web server". How many routers want you to control them through their manufacturer's remote servers, rather than just having an HTTP server built in? And is that in some way as time-consuming as grinding your own flour or making your own furniture?
Sure, as it stands right now, you might not be able to buy a Lockitron device and run it yourself quite as easily as using their servers. But this chain of comments isn't discussing "which choice should buyers make", it's "is their use of buzz words justified when they say 'main advantage [...] is that everything is in the cloud'", and frankly I don't think that's an advantage over a system where all devices run their own servers.