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Remember, if it requires an internet connection or an app, the manufacturer can take features away whenever they want to.
Pretty bad business decision. Even with the subscription in place they could give a year of it for free on new purchases and then just charge 2k instead of 1.7k. They would get the same money, people would be ok with it as it would be free for the time they use it and the company would even make some money out of resold units that would require the subscription.
The company's founder, Harvey Karp, said the pricing change was necessary to "bring in revenue," noting that the company was not underwritten by a university or the government, and must survive on its sales alone.
He said his ultimate goal would be to see the Snoo paid for by the government or by insurance companies, but it's unclear if there has been any substantive movement toward achieving that end.
i sympathize with parents who can't be assed to rock their own babies, but i'll go to my grave having never supported tax OR insurance dollars being spent on a fucking $1700 bassinet