I should have replied to your comment, instead of posting a new one. I agree with your sense of freeing, but if, as the author talks about, you'll crop many of your shots, it doesn't sound so freeing then.
Is that really the case though? The fixed prime is small and compact, and still frees a photographer from carrying a bulkier lens.
That you can crop/digital zoom in a pinch is freeing, provided you've got enough resolution to do so.