You missed the point.

My point is that all this time spent on defining applications could and should be spent on defining management/configuration screens, status screens, logging, etc. for the primary purpose of this box.  ... 

Michael N6MEF

I think part of what all of us are experiencing, is the frustration of (in many cases) made purchasing decisions (eg, not buying something else) based on a schedule that has (for speeds over 9.6k) slipped by at least a year.  Some of us have also seen software products (whether free or commercial) languish for bug fixes or serious enhancements, while "software engineers" fiddle with changes for the sake of cosmetics (Thunderbird being a prime example).  Like you, I hope that primary software efforts are not being delayed for "adjunct" software.  Of course, most of the software effort is volunteer, and different people have different skills (I'm an embedded developer, not a GUI wizard).

On the other hand, many commercial products can't survive economically without "appliance" users, or even "toy" users.  Ten years ago, the number of amateur radio licensees was steadily declining;  now, it is up by about 8%.  Now, some will argue whether or not that's a good thing (I will argue the latter, but not here), but the fact is, most consumer products exist (at least at current prices) due to this effect.  UDR has appliance purchasers lining up, and it needs them as well as "us" (meaning those that don't want any eMail software on the UDRX) for both survival and the resources to support us (there will be changes).

However, like everyone else, I'm not getting any younger, and I've been looking at alternate solutions.  Tuesday evening I bought a commercial 5.8GHz digital (eg, Ethernet) radio and 36" dish for $200 total to use with the HamWAN project.  Two days later (today) I am on the air (through a 2nd story window -- need to move it higher) to a remote Internet connection at 1.5Mbps, for 1/2 the price of a UDRX.  When I mount the antenna higher, I should get over 10Mbps.

Assuming we get the UDRX with a speed of (say) 128Kbps by fall, then some of us will only have ourselves to communicate with.  I'm in the Pacific NW, and I know some of the UDRX buyers:  some of them will be "slow" to get a usable network up.  Meanwhile, I'm on the air to others on the HamWAN network and the Internet, today.  I will probably buy a second radio/antenna combo to experiment with.

Whether these radios supplant or replace my reservation for two UDRX radios, I have not decided.