Ok, he is a bit harsh in his critics but he is telling the truth basically. I think there are minor issues about the PHB but the bigger problem I saw was in the Starter Set.
Fist of all, why do you publish a Starter Set?
Because you want to introduce your game to an alien audience. These people are supposed to have never played D&D, never played a role playing game before, ever. So your starter set should target them only, not anyone else. I am an experienced DM from 2e era, I bought the starter set, invited a big group of friends half of whom have never played tabletop role-playing before. You know what, my group got into the action and began to give life to their characters under 1 hour of play. But only because I was experienced in the game, and was DMing. I taught them step by step, the rolls, the saves, the skill checks. This starter set and LMoP is a very nice product if you find a DM that knows how to run a role playing game. If you are a bunch of friends that never played before and don't have a DM already, it is still a little hard for you to learn the game. Yeah, you can learn it but without an `old cousin` you should eventually invest a lot more time on it.
I prefer the Starter Set rulebook (and basic rules PDFs) to be a pure tutorial of how to play a character AND how to manage a game. A 32 page tutorial for the player, a 32 page tutorial for the DM (this is the most important one) and an adventure module, that's all. Just put 4 or 5 premade characters, explain briefly how they were created, include background, racial lore, illustrations of how they look like, highlight their special skills and strong points. Omit anything that won't be used in the starter module. Include tips to DM instead. Most of the time, rulebook addresses the player only. Nearly everytime it says `your DM will determine this, your DM will do that, your DM will help you resolve...etc..` Ok so I happen to be that DM, how should I do all that? Where do I begin?
I think, WotC must present a step by step `game mastering tutorial` for D&D in a pdf format. Tips on narrating, storytelling, resolving actions, steering the PCs through an adventure, managing combat, roleplaying npcs and monsters. The current pdf is a set of advanced rules and magic items, nothing really appealing for a novice player. Because all the starting players need only a story to get hooked, get used to their characters, run combat seamlessly, that's all.