This is actually at the crux of most Mac-PC-Linux debates. And, no, the Mac is not a PC, at least not according to Apple's own branding (otherwise Mac vs PC ads make no sense). Simply, the Apple products are consumer products. They are geared to the non-technical user who neither wants nor needs the options. They are quite happy with the simplicity Apple gives them. This is not a slam, it is reality and by design. Linux, by extension, is not a consumer product. It is for technical people who want to do their own thang and do their own thang they do... Windows tries to walk both lines and suffers in many regards because of it. Technical people can get things far enough that they feel they should be able to go 100% into Windows innards but they can't and it frustrates them. When technical people encounter an Apple product, they either don't buy, or they hack into it much like they do with Windows products
So.... like it or not, the iPad may be in terms of the article, a step backwards, but for many, it will be just right.