I don't think a few example characters set the gold standard.
For a beginner it is not a bad choice however.
I also think a 14 is perfectly workable and if I play my Goliath bard, I will still put at least +1 into Strength, to get that nice 16 there. I will however probably use the +2 to get my cha and dex to 14.
I was just saying that the characters are how WOTC was recommending in creation and the way they presented creation would carry on assumptions in the community.
It's just that the community of 5e was not as conservative as the design and development teams. This caused the removal of racial abilities and the possibility of removal of some purely setting or cultural subraces.