Does an 'open' format provide the benefits it is supposed to?

Does an 'open' format provide the benefits it is supposed to? - O'Reilly Broadcast: "I don't see that the current open standards for office document formats automatically provide all the particular advantages in the way people seem to think. It is of course better that the format information is published, that the IP has been sorted out, that it has been QAed by independent organizations to the champions, and that there are processes in place which, if taken advantage of, can allow broader future participation by users and other stakeholders."