If I am going to design a machine of some kind that has the socket for an imp, along with the logic and hardware to use it meaningfully, then why don't I just put my own wifi chip and antenna on the device? Sticking one of these into a camera won't connect the camera to the internet unless the camera has software to use it, right? Or am I wrong? Is that the point? I don't understand.
This pretty much addresses the why:
http://www.electricimp.com/manufacturers/It's a royal pain "just sticking my own wifi chip and antenna on the device". Besides, just doing that gets you... a device on local wifi. You'll need to run a service too, plus write some phone apps, deal with upgrades, sort out your security and configuration, etc.
All this is stuff which is best done once, by people whose business it is to do this stuff well. Would you trust a washing machine vendor to keep your device up to date with security updates, add facilities to talk to whatever new useful internet service comes out, or, god forbid, make their machine work with some other product made by a competitor? It's not their area of expertise - there's not really any money in it for them either.
Besides manufacturers like this, we're opening the market for "boring" devices to become cheaper. Want a plug top power controller? Buying a no-name chinese brand would be awful if you were relying on their software (and for them to fix bugs and provide updates), but buy one with an imp slot and all they have to do is make a power supply and a relay in a plastic box. You get proper networking and integration from a specialist.
Separating the networking/service bit and the device is actually a really good way to go.... at least IMHO
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