I'm going to very carefully dip a toe in this thread and point out two things:
That's about all I'm going to mention in this thread, other than that I'm seriously impressed by our community, as always.
Thanks for the feedback @PGriffith. Sorry into goading for a response, it just seemed like the most appropriate point 
.
I understand how precarious explicitly stating a position is and why your response is reserved. Thank you for being the brave representative (scape goat 
) jumping into the fray.
Would it be possible for you to keep us up to date if you ever talk about this internally, even if it’s just a nod to say you’re doing so. Obviously, if you can share anything (without losing your job ) that would also be greatly appreciated. No obligation for you to do so, but I’d be interested in the outcomes of this discussion.
Finally, sorry to @abishur for hijacking the thread slightly, it was just an interesting debate (for me anyway ).
TBH, dev is often the last to know about planned changes for licensing.
This is probably getting more rare all the time, though last time I drove through a few states there were some significant areas with no coverage. Canada has really vast areas with zero cell coverage (you can drive all day with none at all up north and for significant stretches down south too).
This discussion interests me as the only option for mobile internet in these areas is mobile satellite, which is prohibitively expensive for the maker market. Fixed satellite isn't bad for a home, but a bit steep for an individual device.
Would lengthening the lease to a few days meet your needs, @abishur? I'm thinking if you could connect to renew license before ducking off grid for a day or so that might work well. It would certainly work well for many applications I can think of where most people have (satellite) internet at their home base, though nowhere else they frequent.
Anything IA provides free is a bonus. Maybe something between current free and mid $$$$ options might be a good fit for some applications. Talking to sales is always a good idea as I'm guessing this relates more to sales than dev 
Maybe wait for Elon Musk's Skynet.....I mean Starlink world-wide internet to be completed 
I'm signed up....
Maybe the feature request here is just adding the 2 hour (or perhaps 4 hour) "trial reset" to Maker? Would allow you to keep consistent in your messaging of using Maker for educational purposes while giving flexibility when dealing with a lack of internet access.
In addition to the reasons @abishur pointed out, there are those who cannot afford internet access (or limited data caps) but are still issued school laptops. Allowing them to continue to work offline with Maker edition would help keep the training consistent with the rest of their class (don't have to switch between full Ignition and Maker).
They say service up here in the north is expected in 2022. App shows one thin stripe of sky with coverage right now--looks like one satellite must pass over here so far. If it's 99% reliable it'll completely blow away the current alternatives in both speed and cost. I might have to preorder.
Cool, check out this Linus Tech Tips Video on it.
