Modbus TCP vs serial

[archived]

OK, it looks to me like two good choices for IO devices that can be used in conjunction with Plutohome are the ioPak from ioselect and the seaIO range from Sealevel. Both have serial and ethernet versions of their products. Ethernet being newer, faster, more common, standardized, approachable from various points on same network (any station polling the network for a status of a particular device will get a result, etc) I would prefer going the ethernet way. The protocol is called Modbus TCP, I gather. Now, my question is : can PlutoHome interact with these babies ? Can we monitor digital inputs for pushbutton action to trigger events ? Can we use analog inputs to display -say- humidity ? Can we use the Modbus TCP outputs (rather than serial) for steering automation ?
Would this be a feature request ?
Or is RS485/232 the only option ?
Appreciate your input...