Personally, I love my smart home stuff. Homeassistant has been utterly reliable, automating things in node-red is easy and fun. I can use IKEA's stuff or buy from any of dozens of other Zigbee manufacturers. My plant lights go on and off at sunrise/sunset, my phone notifies me when there's movement on my porch or driveway, living room lights offer a nice ambience when I come home at night, etc.
It's mostly inessential stuff but it's nice. I tinker with the system maybe an hour or two every year and it all just works without any real drama or troubleshooting.
On the most part, bike manufacturers use standardized parts that can be replaced by and end-user with sufficient know-how and the tools to do it. There aren't that many companies making drivetrain parts, so you tend to see Shimano and SRAM just about everywhere, and maybe the odd Campagnolo-equipped bike every now and then. At least here in the US. (Unrelated, Shimano's product range is crazy - somehow their components come stock on bikes ranging from $250 up to $12k or more.)
Outside of < $200 Wal-Mart bikes, I've never had any trouble repairing or finding someone to do "normal" repairs or maintenance on a bicycle. I'd like to know what prompted the article, unless the real point was to complain about E-Bike batteries, which is not something I can really comment on.