In a lot of countries (Northern Hemisphere) Summer is the holiday season, but that has never been my experience in the US. So it might not be as strange from that perspective.

Very interesting read lol. I think part of it is definitely to encourage repeat purchases. If you like a product and for the layman there is no way to maintain it, you’ll probably buy it again. More money for them! In regards to the interface being terrible… The only reason I could think would be overly cautious on avoiding injury? If there are so many tactile requirements, your fingers can’t be ground, which means no lawsuit. Who knows why companies decide certain things. (Like Chrome making you have to choose custom for page amount instead of auto populating the field and making me take an extra step)