true, you do have that option, but lets say you loved the form factor of the eris or the cliq, but didn't want their addon crap. i dunno, just seems weird that for an OS that is so customizable that you are still forced to do things a certain way with certain handsets.
i still think android as a whole would be better off if those addons were done through the market. that way, all phones could run the same version, at the same time, and then integrate the updates as they become available.
it doesn't make any sense to have old phones running 1.6, some new phones running 1.5, one phone running 2.0, and another 2.1. thats just too many!!
although after listening to a sanjay interview, this sounds more like a google influence than anything else. he basically said that google pushes them for a "pure" experience on their flagship phone.