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I think we're making some rather.... well, bad generalizations.
The Sony Reader has a base in gadget nerds (if I may use the term, I'm certainly one) because, largely, it's been around much longer and is more widely available (in terms of both the 500 and 505). The Kindle doesn't have the market saturation to see much hacking yet, and we're not sure where that will go.
That being said... between the tools here and the MobiCreator there is nothing I could put on my Sony Reader that I can't put on my Kindle that I'd want there (I'm not going to pretend unconverted pdf files were worth bothering with (for me at least.). So as far as being able to grab my own content - I have that option, and so do other Kindle users who want to do that.
But what really matter is CONTENT. Amazon promises content. Amazon has delivered on content - and solid content, not a bunch of pulp fiction, scifi, fantasy and romance. I can find about 75% of what I'm looking for on the Kindle anymore, and usually at a great price. Compared to Sony's store (a month ago) where I found something along the lines of 10%.
I'm ignoring content from both Amazon and Sony that involves "classics" widely available here or elsewhere, and of course the contents of Microsoft Lit formats are available to just about everyone.
Don't get me wrong.. I love a good hack, and I hope people start doing more with the Kindle but for some of us it's all about content - and while DRM sucks, DRM is everywhere for any text I'd buy. My only option is scanning it myself if I don't want DRM, and that works just as well no matter what device I'm using (actually, it's easier for the Kindle since I can use the Mobicreator program).
So I think we should avoid too much in the way of "most people." There is no doubt the Kindle is more mass market, but that doesn't mean anything in and of itself except you will have more passive users (that probably consists of most SonyReader users as well, proportionately. We are a vocal minority, none of us are the typical users of such devices.)
As far as hacking the Kindle... well, what would you do exactly? You're not going to hack it to read other DRM formats, and almost anything else can already be put in the device. I suppose you could add real PDF support, but given how badly such support would be in the end I see little benefit. This is not to say the Kindle is perfect, but I don't see a lot that can be done given the hardware limitations. It's not going to start displaying comic books or images well or anything.
I really think the Sony Reader is a helluva device, but having been in the unfortunate position to interface with Sony media offers before, I have very little faith in their store acquiring a lot of content at good prices and their DRM is just as nasty. And I admit to missing the sleek little device I could spend hours messing with, but when it comes down to it I have a reader to read - and the Kindle does the best job for me of that.
If we're seeing a lot of noise, it's because people already have relationships with Amazon and trust and like them. Hell, even my mom does the majority of her online shopping there and so do I (I got a great cast iron griddle there just this week!) They played the PR and marketing well, and that's part of a successful device launch. As far as hardware... I think the Sony (505) is definitely a better device, but the library, sample chapters, and periodical support really seals the deal not just with me, but with many users who may have given up a certain amount of freedom in order for the device to do what it is supposed to - let us read what we want easily.
Still, this is all sophistry... there is no good data out there about any of this aside from anecodotal, which hardly counts.
What works for you, works for you. But I don't find the generalizations all that helpful and my points above are only to indicate that the Kindle is a very reasonable option even for someone who hacks just about everything that gets into his possession.
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