to ata or not to ata

i'm a bit confused now. according to om malik the ata is dead, they are clearing the way for ip phones. on the other hand inside c (via eurotelcoblog) is all raving lunatic about the actiontec internet phone wizard, which is essentially an ata for skype. i'm not a skype fan, but i fail to see what all the buzz is about. this adapter still requires you to run skype on your computer. so instead of just using your computer, you now buy an additional adapter, and get less functionality than with the original skype (no buddy list, ...). how is this any better than a sip adapter and an account with any other sip provider?