I do specify blank plates be installed initially and that the engraving is later. But many things are unlikely to change - like the toggle for a control room work light, catwalk work lights, or the basic on off at an entry station, and the non-regular user like the school principal or pastor or substitute teacher benefits from having labels. Why on earth would you reprogram a work light switch to do something else?
I like flexibility but at some point flexibility becomes limpness.
In your quote about only the integrator being able to do it, which is not entirely true because a power user can learn to modify and reprogram Paradigm at least (I've given up on Netvision and that's all there is), it would be useful to understand what of "everything" the user wanted to do was and why the integrator wouldn't do it. Does everything mean changing the basic work light switches to run cues? For a few clients, I have had ETC modify a configuration and pretty simple for user to install and test.
LCD, touch glass, "smart ink" (whatever happened to that), engraving, printing - labels pure and simple. You enter the room, there's 4 buttons, somehow it should indicate in a neat and legible means what the buttons do. Fire, heart attack, active shooter, someone misbehaving - I want whomever is ushering or running the event and standing in the back of the room to not have to guess or be worried about which button to press.
I think it's fine that Pathway wants to manufacture great products and not get involved in project management and custom systems, but it means that there will be some applications for which their products are not suitable.