Why free weights are better

I'm naturally klutzy, so when I'm lifting weights at the gym, I tend to head for the exercise machines rather than the free weights. That way, there's little chance that I can drop the weight on someone's foot or lose my balance and crash into other gym-goers. But I've noticed that the people at the gym who really seem to know what they're doing tend to stick to the free weights -- how come?

According to this post on Diet Blog, free weights rule for a number of reasons, including:

• They force you build balance
• They use movements that you use in everyday life
  
• You don't have to conform to a certain movement
• Machines can actually increase the risk of injury
• They're cheaper and don't take up so much space.
  

What do you think? Will you switch to the free weights?