The author does make a very good point about GPIO PIN protection and I'll agree fully with him on that a few extra resistors here and there would of not added that much to the cost and made something a little bit more forgiving, which is a good point for education.
But it does open up a whole new add-on market for kits which in itself can only be good.
Having burned up my share of electronics, this is probably the only part of the article I thought worthwhile. A little daughterboard with GPIO pin protection and buffering for 5V would be a great way to introduce students to real world interfacing.
But it does open up a whole new add-on market for kits which in itself can only be good.