Two sides to everything. Controlling distribution, however it's done, can be a real benefit. As far as this product in particular goes, it's ancient and came out well before every installer was running around with a $300 ebay laptop. I don't believe the latest stuff has any such restrictions, but I could be wrong.
As for Elan, those people are nuts. Their product can work well but some of the things you have to do to make it work. Well..just nuts.