When I first read about this the other day I was at first worried about the future of the do-it-yourself builders like myself. Then I reflected on my past builds and realized the last time I upgraded the CPU without replacing the MB was when I went from a Pentium II 233MHz to a P3 450MHz (remember those slotted CPU's?). I still build systems with room to upgrade, but by the time an upgrade is needed a new socket is out and you can't find CPU's for the older socket anymore.
I still don't like the idea of soldered CPU's though. Unless Intel is going to stop making chips for OEMs, I don't see how it would be cheaper for Intel to produce them that way. Even if they do move to soldered CPU's I doubt it will kill off the enthusiast builder, but it will make building harder. For example:
When I start planning a new build, I first pick out the CPU, then the MB. If CPU's are soldered to the MB, this will make building harder because now I have to find the specific MB/CPU combo I want. What if I'm building a new system and I decide I like the Intel Core i12 6Ghz because the i11 is but not much cheaper for its slower performance and the i13 is only slightly faster but costs a lot more. Next I start looking at MB's and see that ASUS has a board that has everything I want. Now I go shopping and find that specific CPU/MB combo is popular and sold out in that specific combination everywhere. Now I either have to go with another MB that may not have all of the features I want just to get the CPU I want, or if I really like that ASUS board I will have to get it with a different CPU or wait for until they make more and hope to grab one before it sells out again.
I could also see how MB manufacturers could take advantage of this and run up costs by only produce limited quantities of boards with the low and medium CPU offerings and lots with high end expensive CPU's. The low and medium board which offer the best performance for the money will sell out quickly forcing people who really want to build their own system to fork out more money.
"You can either want something to be true, or you can want the truth. Pick one." - Mr. Diety