I agree, they could have gone in a lot of directions with an inexpensive camera. I guess the problem was that Cisco wanted the mainstream market - and they were

I agree, they could have gone in a lot of directions with an inexpensive camera. I guess the problem was that Cisco wanted the mainstream market - and they weren't going to go after the various niche markets like: timelapses, infrared, fast shutter cams (e.g. skateboarding tricks), sport cams (e.g. mountain biking, longboarding)... Or maybe Cisco didn't want any competition for their line of rather plain, low-quality home security IP cameras.