Sure its fun to laugh at things people said that turned out very, very wrong. I think one of the basic premises isn't all that far off though:

>The way Jobs sees it, the stores look to be a sure thing. But even if they attain a measure of success, few outsiders think new stores, no matter how well-conceived, will get Apple back on the hot-growth path.

Sure, that's short sighted but its not quite wrong. The stores worked out because new and exciting products drove people there. Apple finally had a way to sell their vision the way they wanted to.