No, I was not joking.
Dungeon, has for many moons, required little actual role playing and lots of dice rolling. I love rolling the dice but if it's all about combat combat combat, why does the GM need to be there? Each player can take a monster's turn on an opposing players turn or something like that.
The biggest obsticle to D&D is the GM. He's the keypoing, the guardian, the keeper of the way.
Eliminate that bottleneck and the game will flow freely! In theory at least.
That's what my gut told me when I read that article but it could have been the mojitos.
I think you're right in that this is a goal. Perhaps not for an entire edition, but at least for an intro-style game. In that respect, I think it wouldn't be a bad idea.
However, I believe the theory that the GM-requirement is an impediment is overblown. For the casual RPGer or beer-n-pretzels player, it may be true, but a string of combats is a hollow experience after awhile. To use the dreaded video game analogy, while the gameplay is certainly important, today's video games are producing settings, character development, and story that rivals (and often exceeds) that found in movies, television, and novels. Why? For the immersion, escapism, exploration, or a number of other reasons to explore another world/genre/setting.
Without the GM, you're forced to rely on publisher content for anything other than a tabletop pit/dog/rooster fight. Perhaps you've made entrance into the game easier, but is there any staying power in such a model? I don't think so.
Also, of late, I'm reliving my early RPG experiences through my kids. It drove home the great appeal of being the GM: the ability to have an entire world as your creative outlet. My oldest can't wait to run his first adventure. Both kids are drawing pictures of the characters, as well as imaging villains for them to fight or monsters to defeat.
Can being a GM be a significant investment in time/commitment? Of course, it
can, but it's not required. But once you get the GM-bug, it usually sticks. And I don't view it as a bad thing.