Ultimately, password hints are evil and they add nothing to an online system that can’t be achieved with a secure password reset feature.
It's a classic case of someone criticizing one important feature without suggesting viable alternatives. He might as well have said,
Gasoline engines are evil and they add nothing to a world that can't be achieved with a more efficient propellant.
Yeah, okay - but what's the more efficient propellant?!?!
Password hints aren't "evil" just because (a) Adobe happened to store theirs in plain text, and (b) some users do use seriously identifying information in theirs. Password hints make it fast and easy for an actual user who genuinely needs to reset their password to be able to do so quickly and efficiently. What's the secure password reset feature that Troy alludes to? I missed it.