Great, so you’d rather not have the feature available most of the time. I guess that is progress, but for most people I don’t think it is.
How hard is it to set up an app? Most people have done it at least once, and pretty much every one can sign up (you do it if you want an MSN, Yahoo, GMail, ICQ or other account).
Yes, Apple integrates a lot of stuff; at the same time, you are limited in what you can do with your phone, and what apps you can use. So if it works exactly as-is for you, great. But if you ever want anything slightly outside the walled garden Apple has given you, well, you’re stuck.
You’re trumpeting a perceived market advantage that will be very shortlived, PugetSoundSoldier. Then, it’ll be right back to the usual dynamic, which is a choice between the genuine article put together with great care and flair from Apple, or the lower apparent cost of entry for what is for all intents and purposes a less than ideally executed clone.