So, I just got the email telling me about the new service. Here's what it said:

We want to let you know that the PlayStation Plus service is changing.
PlayStation Plus will soon evolve into a new service, offering members greater choice with an exciting new range of benefits.
                                                      What this means for you:
Your membership will automatically migrate into an equivalent subscription plan in the new PlayStation Plus service, unless you let it expire before the new service launches.
                                                          Rest assured that:
o Your new membership will include the same PlayStation Plus benefits you enjoy today.
o Your subscription fee will not increase and your payment dates will not change when the new service launches, unless you choose to make any changes yourself to your subscription plan or payment frequency.
We're also adding some significant new features and options to the PlayStation Plus service, more details of which will be announced soon.
                                                            Your benefits:
Your current membership gives you the following benefits, all of which you will retain when the new PlayStation Plus service launches for as long as your membership remains active:
  o Access to online multiplayer
  o Monthly games
  o Exclusive discounts
  o Exclusive add-on content
  o Cloud storage
  o Share Play
  o Game Help (on PS5)
  o The PlayStation Plus Collection (on PS5)

Of these, I really only care about the first one. The others are wasted on me. I wonder if I'll be able to pot-out of some of these?

I've seen how FPS motion-sickness affects people, so completely agree that, in your case, being able to test-drive the game is an advantage. My main point was that combining all services into one big subscription is likely going to be too expensive for someone like me who just doesn't want 95% of what it offers. If I get forced into moving to this new sub model (at a higher rate) I'll likely have to drop it, because it's just not worth the money to me. If Sony were smart (wishful thinking, I know!) they would have tiers of subscriptions, like a cable service, that you can buy into just the features/channels you want. Hmm...on second thought, cable services aren't all that great either, so maybe not quite that model of service. Perhaps a matrix of features that you can individually select from? I'm just wishing here.

I'm kind of at the other end of the spectrum. I'm old and research my game choices before I buy. While I understand the "try before you by" approach, that's never really appealed to me. Why invest bandwidth/space/time with something that you ultimately abandon? So, it's no surprise that I don't care about PS Now nor PS Plus (nor even the save data backup "feature" - don't get me started on that!). Nothing either of these have ever offered interested me in the slightest, or if it did I almost always had already bought the game in some form (I try for hard copy/DVD, but sometimes it's just faster to get the digital version). What ticks me off is I'm required to have a PS Plus sub in order to play mutli-player games online with my friends. I'd be willing to pay a reduced sum for just the online play ability, but instead I'm paying a (shall we say, exorbitant) price for "features" I'll never use. Since I have no say or choice in the matter (if I want to be able to play with my friends, which I do), I'm stuck paying for PS Plus. This pending consolidation will likely cost me even more and, again, I'm not going to get any real benefit since I don't care about their offerings.

How so? The TV, being a Roku-enabled device (says so on the box!), reasonably expected me to have a Roku account. I could have plugged an ethernet cable into it to bypass WiFi, but my network router is not close enough for that, hence the WiFi access. It still would have wanted the Roku account because, well, it's a Roku TV, and that's its primary design goal. The account was "free" and didn't require giving them my first-born or my kidneys, so I was OK with that. I may actually try using Roku in the future, but for now it's just an unused feature of a device that functions as a suitable display for my DVR, otherwise.
The vacuum, by contrast, is controlled from the smartphone app only (well, except for a single button on the top), and, also said so on the box. That, again, requires WiFi access. The vendor account I see as being mostly for scheduling and automated software updates rather than anything else (like spying on my vacuum buying habits), and, again I get to keep my kidneys.
I see neither as being unfit or defective because both fulfill their functions (though the vacuum is getting a little uppity lately).
I think that, with any modern technology, there is a level of expectation involved. This has changed over time, but lately wireless has come become commonplace to where vendors can reasonably expect/rely on customers to have it available for use. In their eyes, they are providing a better product and service in exchange for a little of your goodwill and network bandwidth.
I have many other devices that use the network, both wired and wireless. That isn't a bad thing, after all, the network is there to be used, so why wouldn't I use it for my TV and vacuum? But, more to the point, needing network access isn't the problem or a defect-by-design.
I think the real concern here is that IoT has had a rocky (nay infamous) start out of the gates that left many shaking their heads. It is frightening to hear about thousands of IoT devices being turned into an Army of the Undead. What we need is for vendors to stop rushing to market before thoroughly testing their products, but even that won't catch everything. Look at more mature network/computer products and see how they still fail in various ways.
I expect IoT to get better over time. It just sucks that we, the consumers, are being boosted as "beta" testers.

"defective" isn't really accurate. "intrusive by design", maybe, but a defect implies a failure. This is not the case. These products work as designed. They just want access to my "private" resources (ie: access to my WiFi and, to some lesser extent, my "personal" account on "their" systems). But, it's a question of time and effort for me. It would take more time investment for me to return both items and then seek suitable replacements. In both cases, I don't really have the time to waste and their use of my "private" resources is, realistically, minimal and won't really give away any informationI I truely care about (though the vaccum does give away some aspects of the house floor plan, but no real details concerning accessing the house itself). So, these, at least, while annoying, aren't all that intrusive on my privacy. I can, if I want, simply block their access or, instead, retarget their access on to my Guest network rather than my internal network if I'm concerned about them scanning my network. But, thus far, I haven't seen any such behaviour from either device (nor any of the other, older "smart" devices I have, and that includes my cellphone). So, while annoying, their requirements are "acceptable" at the moment. I can't say that will be true of newer devices as they start to demand more and more of our personal info, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

You joke, but my new TV demanded my WiFI password and a Roku account before it would do anything else! Heck, my new robot vacuum demanded WiFi and a vendor account too! I can easily see a toaster demanding the same. Just watch Red Dwarf some time and see how pushy a toaster can truely be! :)

I told him NOT to wear a Red Shirt today! -- Dr. McCoy

Some other missing options:
    Smarter than the Average Bear
    Max-Max-Max Head Ro-Ro-Room
    Stupid is as Stupid does
And, lastly:
    D'oh!

Bah!

I still have my original Apple ][ with my original Hayes Micro-modem (110/300) with it's external Micro-coupler (a blue ribbon cable) and the Trend-Comm terminal software for it (running of my Corvus 5Mb (yes, megabyte) harddisk).

Now if I could just figure out how to connect it to my HDTV! :-)

Has anyone seen or used this: http://www.jadeintegration.com/jackpc.php I'm looking for some very small form-factor/low-power boards for some embedded work and stumbled upon this.