I think there's a third concept as well which is where most of the "openness" hype stems which is the ability to replace entire parts of the platform. Don't like the homescreen, dialer, camera app, keyboard? Just replace it with something you do like.

That's what I find most compelling about the Android platform. As long as I have access to the Android Market and the ability to install apps directly from the internet, most of the problems mentioned in the article can be sidestepped. With that being said, I do find the trend mentioned in the article to be somewhat alarming. Removing those two features really cripples the phone, but I expect most Android phones to leave those enabled.