Im guessing other have made this observation - but the Airport is from an era originally where nobody had router configuration figured out. It was like you could have the turd sandwich or the barf milkshake. Then Apple came along and made it easy. Imagine how many tech support calls Apple has fielded over the years simply due to network setup issues with web based set up and people who had no idea how to use it. Over the years, the gap has gotten smaller and 3rd parties have created some decent setup solutions. As much as I would like to keep buying Apple networking hardware, this move does actually make sense to me.
I am quite sure it would be possible for Apple to have made a WiFi router that was easy to set up, offered some information to guide the user and even mention in more detail certain types of issues and possible ways to resolve them. Apple chose NOT to do this. What I really enjoy about all this is that Apple in the days of Apples vs IBM PC, was designed with ability to network out of the box while IBM PC was NOT. Apple in this, led the way and now finds itself becoming just another company rather than the creator of a "living style" through technology. I have never made claim before in any area with respect to Apple that I could do a better job on an Apple device than Apple but certainly here I feel more than confident. Apple simply is going a very different direction and the "eco" system was already fractured and now a gaping hole to come. There is an entire area where "vision" would be in order with respect to "connectivity" in the home from typical Apple devices to home controls etc. Apple seems to have little vision here and is lagging behind other companies and this is a perfect indicator of Apple's desire to make its profit and continue to lose its long term customer fan base in favour of the newer unsuspecting buyer who has no measure of how mediocre Apple has become.