Hey lads, hold up....
The Plug and play aspect was described differently by Thomas.
Not just a hardware, (USB make a cup of tea) type plug and play but if a developer or car brand wanted specific settings applied for a model of car the wheel could automatically adopt these.
The Podium series potentially opens the door for developers to have pre-tuned profiles from within the software title applied to the wheel base.
The less expensive wheel looks like it could be more than enough for the average semi-serious sim racer. Yet I reckon its clearly seeking to compete with the Accuforce and bring better performance/options. It has to be £300 or so less than the more upmarket version.
I also think in some ways Thomas made this exclusive so boring, low quality as it would do exactly what its doing and thats get some in the community worked up or discussing it. We have to wait but what will determine how well these wheels sell is mainly the performance, reliability and software they have.
I have to say Im still on the fence but positive with interest in the cheaper unit.