jonny, i don't see the extensive pixellation that you see in the SI prints. as far as canon's warming over colors, I haven't noticed this or heard this before. Canon, Nikon and the others that make digicameras all use the same colorspaces (whch are user selectable). when the software is configured right, there should not be any consistent warming over done by canon's. additionally, any such color cast is easily correctable through any number of methods, including white balance and color cast corrections during RAW conversions and color balance adjustments in photoshop. certainly any photo processing mechanism will have its own sort of bias, but if you are working with a calibrated montor in a defined colorspace (sRGB or adobe RGB), then these issues should not present any serious detriment to an advanced hobbyist of professional who is post-processing their images. While i can concede your point that with digital there isn't the same concern about perfectly composing or exposing every shot, this doesn't create a flaw that cuts against digital in my eyes, it just depends on the type of shooter. if you want an outstanding shot, you still have to compose it the same way you do film, move around just as much to find the right angle or light and you cannot simply rely on cropping if you want the perfect image because you want as much data as possible within your desired FOV.
and the incentive to go out and shoot and the direct and immediate feedback given are invaluable as a learning exercise. My digirebel was my first SLR of any kind and being able to look at photos immediately and examine the histogram to check exposure has been invaluable in helping me to learn about light and properly exposing shots. there is no way that i could've learned as much as i did in 8 months with the digirebel with a film SLR because i would've had to wait for prints. when you receive the prints, the lighting conditions of a particular shot will not be fresh in your mind to compare your print with. being able to see the exposure information immediately after a shot and reshoot with different settings has enabled me to progress much faster than if i was shooting film.
imho, of course.