Frameworks for End-Users

I have to disagree with the notion that a theme's code should be written for non-developers. To the average WP user, who just picks their favorite looking theme, the code matters not. This means that the code could be horrible. The benefit of any framework is that potential issues have been addressed and continue to be worked on (SEO, speed, validity, compatibility, accessibility, etc.).

For the end user that wants to make minor changes to things, like the wording of the byline, theme frameworks could make it a bit easier. But I don't think building a theme should adhere to what is easiest for people to tweak. So theme option pages may be in order. People obviously love Thesis because of its options.

On Hybrid specifically, Jeff is right about it being developed for developers. Justin's idea is that he'll provide the foundation and developers can add on to it. So its certainly within the realm of possibilty to create a theme options plugin for Hybrid. I've already built one to change the byline. This seems ideal to me as well; the theme is as robust or minimalistic as you want it to be. These things will just take time.

Frameworks for Developers

Also, I wanted to address why I think frameworks are excellent for client work. You're not really adding any bloat to a client's website with code that you're not using. Sure, a framework will have a large zip file, but that doesn't mean it isn't optimized to run fast. In fact, it may run more efficiently than a brand new theme because everything has been thought through. Plus, its much more flexible to make changes to a client's site in the future.

Retiring Annual Themes

What they're planning on doing is releasing 2010 until the 2011 theme is released. They won't necessarily retire 2010 but it won't ship with core. So the WP package won't increase with size each year. If you're already using 2010 when the 2011 theme comes out you'll still be ok (like Ryan suggested).