[narag]

Maybe it makes me weird that I'd rather use an open device with a single ARM core...

IMHO, it's neither a question of being weird nor about the power of the phone. The problem is that choosing an architecture that isn't mass produced, you are doomed to disappear no matter what.

I wouldn't care to use an underpowered phone, provided that it's cheap and widely available, being "cheap" an (important) part of "widely available". A hackable phone would generate interesting apps for a wide market. But you need that there are a lot of people that can buy it and has some problem accessing an Android and its apps.