His first response is, "Dude that article is dated 06/08, Apple has already announced a bunch of shit resolving that issue."
Forget the fact that he didn't post any evidence whatsoever, let's examine what exactly Apple would have to "resolve" in order for the article to be inaccurate:
So lo-and-behold, without my knowing, the iPhone is now magically equipped with 3G, according to my friend.
I must have missed this announcement as well... not only is the battery removable but that in itself is a useless feature since the battery will never die.
Should I keep going? Ok.
This is the only thing I can find so far that has any real basis, slashdot has an article I pulled up on Google saying Steve Jobs announced there will be third-party development... but again the whole thing is very cryptic.
Now the screen must be scratch-proof!
Announcements aside, I doubt anyone is going to escape this. You have to have a contract, cut and dry.