So long as the hard drive is not easily removable, I will not buy a Time Capsule, and I will recommend against it to customers. After all, you can't check the SMART status, you can't perform a surface scan, you can't fix permissions issues, and you can't repair the directory structure without reformatting it.
Time Capsule DOES display SMART status. Go to
Airport Utility > Disks. (This is also where you disconnect users of the disk remotely; such as if you want to unplug and you’re not sure if someone else may be connected.)
I’m led to believe that the TC does a surface scan and auto-repair on bootup (kind of like the way a Mac does when you hold Shift: you don’t see a report, it just happens). Sorry, can’t recall the source—probably an Apple tech note (I was wondering about this a couple months ago and searched online for reassurance).
Granted, some people want to (need to?) tinker, but nothing can beat my beloved TC for keeping my data backed up really well, really easily! (And without ease... I’m just not gonna back up as often. That’s trouble.) The first and most important think I need from a backup is that it be painless. Ability to do repairs manually instead of automatically is way down the list.
I'd love an updated Time Capsule. Hopefully they can improve the wireless range a bit, making it so that I no longer need an Airport Express in my apartment. I think the chance is low... but I hope they don't say "oh we've found a better way to do Time Capsule - and it's completely in the cloud" - I really want a local copy of my stuff. It's invaluable to me!
Agreed: local and cloud backups are both important. I don’t expect either option to go away.
As for range, it’s the luck of the structure I suppose! My TC (first-gen) reaches a good 200 feet away from my apartment, down an internal hallway with two bends and multiple concrete walls, in a building packed with a zillion competing networks! Over 15 listed in any one spot. I tried walking away listening to an audio stream over WiFi on my iPhone (3G off), and was amazed how far I got before the signal dropped. I can even use my TC WiFi from a fairly distant area, one building over, where I park my car.
I expect to wake up with sunburns from the thing.