Interesting thread. I'm a hand quilter - only do mq'ing when it's required for some charity quilts. I'm not sure that I necessarily agree with the statement that machine quilting holds up better to washing/wear - after all, look at some of the antique quilts that were not treated as museum pieces - they quilting on them has held up just fine.
I do appreciate the talent it takes to fmq - it's not a talent I have. I'm not overly fond of those that have been quilted to death though. And I think in either case, other than the open seams issue, all others can be fixed during the quilting process regardless of method.