What it means is that Apple has been able to take a very powerful piece of technology and make it dead-easy to use and available to an insane amount of people.
To a certain degree I agree with you. iOS is very simple and tailored for people who don't want to be confused.
What it all boils down to is what works best for you. Do you think you are "tech savvy"? Great! Does that mean you shouldn't get an iOS device? Nope!
Coming from a primary BlackBerry background (but having used the iPhone4 and 4s), I agree with everyone above. What Apple has achieved is the simplification of technology so that it's acceptance is wide-spread. This should not be equated with dumbing it down, coz I know some dumb people and they can't use either an iPhone, a BB or an android
You have to take into account the major factor people considered when iPhones were released. It was and is a very good touch-phone and is very intuitive. My nieces both use iPhones, not because of Instagram (they don't use those features) or iMessage. They use iPhones because it helps them get through the day, performing tasks that they need to perform.
Being a BB user for a long time, I tried to sell them on the features of the BB devices (both touch and qwerty), but I could not get them to switch. Their question is "Why fix it if it ain't broken?"
Both my nephews are BB users and they swear by their devices.
In my family alone, we have 2 iPhones, 3 Android Devices and 7 BBs (both legacy and BB10).
We all have issues using our devices sometimes, and we all make fun of each other when someone's OS makes a boo-boo
But at no point of time, have we ever though that my nieces use the iPhones because they're not tech savvy....