The main reason I remember it is because of the reported warning text. At that time, I owned a Dell Latitude L400 laptop, which did indeed come with the exact warning text quoted in the article. It got got far hotter than any other laptop I have used. I have no trouble believing it could burn someone.
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2002/11/22/man_burns_penis_with_...
Also the thermal limits of the human dermis are pretty well studied and documented. The vast majority of CE products are designed not to exceed 50°C, which is when the thin skinned (children and elderly) start to get second degree burns pretty fast. 60°C is where you burn almost immediately.
Interestingly 45°C is "threshold of pain" for most folks, but few companies set that as the target limit. Since thermal dissipation is a ∆T game that last 5 degrees matters a LOT for wattage out (on a hot day outside 30-35°C is a good surface temp estimate, so that last five degrees is the difference between 10 or 15 degrees out, a non trivial delta.)