I for one welcome it because I found the previous custom URL system too restrictive.
In fact, I was surprised when I just got my email to reserve my handle! I am glad that my handle can be independent of the channel name and be consistent with my other social media accounts.
What I am not too crazy about is that there could be a lot of handle squatters. Hopefully, YT will not give priority to accounts that have little or no videos as well or those accounts that have no activity history to prevent handle-squatting.