I don't know on what information the article is based and really doubt that Apple will not provide at least some sort of web access. And iOS users aren't forced

I don't know on what information the article is based and really doubt that Apple will not provide at least some sort of web access. And iOS users aren't forced to use iCloud - GMail, Dropbox and all the others will still be available ... even in iOS. But Joshua Topolsky mixes two aspects here: Having (limited) web access vs. providing full-fledged web apps that make a native app obsolete. Apple is selling hardware and therefore is interested in pushing native apps instead of web apps. Google on the other hand sells no hardware and uses web apps to sell advertising. These are completely different approaches. Moreover, its not really fair to write down a product that was just announced, is 3 months from release and wasn't seen and used by anyone.