I stopped reading at t-shirts because that's (kinda) my business. While it's not just about the t-shirts, I run a video game community and we sell legally unofficial merchandise like t-shirts and hoodies to support the website. If you have something you cannot advertise to (because there's no money in ads), and you cannot provide a 37signals style of direct service, never underestimate the power of merchandising.
If you're making money on merch, your business is your brand, not the t-shirts themselves. The article's only critical of people who think they're witty enough to sell t-shirts based just on the screen-printed content.
