Bootstrapped founders building connected products face a hard choice: either the device depends on the server for everything, or you build a data converter that stays in sync forever. The device keeps readings and settings in its own format. The server wants those same values as database rows. Somebody writes a converter. Then somebody has to keep that converter alive, correct, and tested for ten years. Meanwhile, every format change on the device breaks things on the server, and every connection hiccup means retries and conflict resolution.