I think this is the first keyboard to address the problem of bi-annual hardware angst. Look at the 9000 Pro - on the market only two years and now it looks like Yamaha is dropping it. What if you could upgrade your keyboard's processor, motherboard, control surfaces, OS and sounds yourself without waiting for companies like Yamaha to catch up as your needs and the technology changes? For that matter, with an open-architecture synth you are actually able to buy current technology, not the dated stuff that comes in all new keyboards because of the time-lag keyboard manufacturers incur trying to design and build synths around hardware. Instead of waiting for the fabled "Tyros Pro" that may or may not ever happen, you could order a 76-note eko with controls mounted that suits your needs and then just install a Tyros-like softsynth. You could also choose from a host of piano/drum/instrument samples, not just what companies like Yamaha think you should have.

Whether the eKo becomes the keyboard of the future or not remains to be seen - but I think it's pointing in the right direction.