I thought you had some valid points, but I don't totally agree with what you are saying, especially about how crucial .Mac is to using iWeb. From what I saw, .Mac doesn't offer any additional functionality to iWeb sites. Everything you can do when publishing to .Mac you can also do when publishing to a folder, and uploading to your own host (including RSS feeds). If you are going to count the $100 price tag of .Mac in the overall price, then you also need to include the price of a another host if you choose not to use .Mac. .Mac simply offers you a no-set-up-required hosting solution, nothing else.
I've also written a complete review of iWeb on my site... http://www.onedigitallife.com/?p=907
iWeb: A First Look