You guys are confusing two things - ME and AMT (=vPro).
The fist one everyone gets. This one doesn't allow remote management, it is intended for internal housekeeping, plus things like emulated TPM and DRM.
The second one, which builds on top of the first one, allows management in about the same scope as any other BMC would, and it is pretty easy to avoid it - just do not purchase SKUs with vPro. For vPro, you have to pay extra, so doing that is pretty easy.
That said, I also consider vPro generally useful, though somewhat flaky and unreliable. It is also about the only way to get BMC-like functionality for desktops or laptops (hey, Intel, any plans for new NUCs with vPro?).
