I think there is a relatively benign way of looking at what happened. One of Lionel's staffers gave the folks at York a heads up that ERR was going to close. Not exactly a public announcement to the world. The vast majority of Lionel's customers buy starter sets and LC/LC+ stuff. TMCC folks (like me) are a small but important minority constituency. They probably thought it wouldn't be a big deal.
It's possible that no one thought it would cause much public consternation, and that they were already working on a plan for upgrades of some sort (TMCC, Legacy, Bluetooth, LC, LC+). Indeed, I'd put my money on an inexpensive Bluetooth upgrade that uses their app/Universal Remote. That's what Hitchcock said in his lette, more or less. I think this just was a case of them not realizing exactly how much blowback there might be while they work on the ultimate successor to ERR. They probably figured they had at least 6-12 months inventory left before this hit the fan. It's probably not going to be TMCC as the upgrade in the long run, simply because of lack of availability of parts down the road. It's going to be Legacy, Bluetooth or LC in the longer run. Or a box that let's you communicate with LC/LC+ locos using the cab-1/cab-2.
That said, I find it astonishing the number of Chicken Littles we have in this hobby, as well as people who think all corporations/businesses are evil and only looking out for their own interests without considering the customer. That's suicide and stupid for a business, and it's amazing to me that so many people got their panties wildly in a twist about something that is temporary and not likely going to be a game changer. Too many cranky old men with too much time on their hands, and lots of grievances in life?
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Gimme a break. 
