csoete

Engineering Explained did an episode especially on the topic [1], it seems a huge amount of routes could indeed be replaced by an electrical semi.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvg_i0GE0Vo

I just did that recently you can load a kernel module the driver will start working and the device will appear (if compatibility is setup correctly). You can remove the module and the device will stop and be removed from /dev.

Just for your information (I am not big fan of the product), but there are battery free (energy harvested) switches which can replace copper runs already.

See for example: https://www.enocean.com/en/enocean_modules_902mhz/

t-mobile does the same with spotify in germany. really bad for competing services.

Probably targeted at plugins/extensions. At least thats the impression that I get by the phrasing they chose.

Yes it matters (at least to me), i was confused initially if it would be some browser for the iridium sat network.

There are tactile buttons in development for screens, if you haven't seen it yet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lVpNiRpcSs

I would say yes it fits perfectly, especially if you extend it with java classes for performance critical stuff.