The interesting thing is that while we now think all required permissions are ridiculous, there used to be no permission system at all. None of the popular desktop operating systems offer any permission model beyond limiting a user's account (and I myself certainly want to have access to my own contacts - but do all applications?).
So it's a very good step that there is a permission model at all. Now it's time to refine it, iterate improvements, and make it the way it should be. Broad permissions like filesystem access merely to save or open a file (such as a document) could be removed altogether if there is a basic system component that lets the user pick the location themselves. Or access to the camera could be asked for by the OS every time an app requires it, or at least it could be logged and display a notification.
To be fair, Desktops don't have as much of detailed look into our lives. SMSs are very intimate, location data can pinpoint you at almost any moment, and ( for me ) i know my address book on my phone is 10x the size of the address book I had on my computer before my phone started syncing contacts across. I think it's a great direction, but one that is now more necessary than ever.
Currently it's Location, Contacts, Calendars, Reminders, various internet accounts (Twitter, Facebook etc) and Accessibility - which is required for an app to read/control what's on screen.
A lot of game launchers (Origin, WoW at least) ask for accessibility permissions to do their anti-bot/cheating checks.
As said above, mobile apps have had permissions systems for a while. Besides J2ME, my pre-iPhone Nokia S60 already asked me if I wanted to allow access to my files, contacts, etc.
So it's a very good step that there is a permission model at all. Now it's time to refine it, iterate improvements, and make it the way it should be. Broad permissions like filesystem access merely to save or open a file (such as a document) could be removed altogether if there is a basic system component that lets the user pick the location themselves. Or access to the camera could be asked for by the OS every time an app requires it, or at least it could be logged and display a notification.