Shouldn't the conclusion here be "make friends with people that own Panasonic m4/3rds or nice dSLRs"? None of their example photos look like self portraits.
Strangely enough, this strikes me as hilarious instead of depressing, and I'm actually looking forward to the challenge. I'm also looking forward to the laughter and teasing when I show off the results to my friends.
And, yes, the semi-professional glamour shots can be an issue too, but in my experience they are much rarer. And at least in that case the person has enough self-esteem to try to look good.