Okay, got around to listening to the latest wp weekly. I don't think there's anything preventing you from editing the actual files (you could copy all the templates from the hybrid folder to the hybrid-news folder and edit away). The problem is when you go to upgrade Hybrid, you're missing out on features that may have been added to those templates in the Hybrid folder. Things might still run smoothly, or things will simply just not work.

By using hooks to interact with the templates, it makes upgrading so much easier. Mind you, I'm a developer, so a lot of this is easier to me, than it would be to a non-developer. But for a non-developer, how great is it to be able to update your theme and not have to worry about your site breaking because of changes you've made to your template files?

I think things like drag and drop to handle layout, should be the job of a plugin (or the child theme). Even a framework specific plugin, if need be. I like the idea of the framework as a base, and extra functionality like layouts and options being left to child theme and plugin developers.

Hopefully the Wordpress Bible's information on hooks that you referred to in the podcast will "click" with you, and you'll get the hang of it. Things like the Hybrid Hook plugin make things a bit easier too. Not sure how often you read the support forums over at themehybrid.com, but the community there is pretty good at answering any questions you have. Chances are the question has already been asked and answered, even.

I'm not sure if you've seen this, but it's where I first learned about hooks, and might be useful for you. It's for Thesis, but the idea is transferrable to other frameworks like Thematic and Hybrid:

Hooks for Dummies Tutorial