Apple is usually vague about how their things work, and many of us do care to know their thought process on things like this. They do so many things really well, like the magnetic charge connector for their laptops, but made it poorly with a cord that stuck straight out, begging to fatigue, which it did, which I believe got them a law suit. Now they are very nicely angled and have a good strain relief and are quite excellent. SJ was a perfectionist, so are some of us, and like most engineers we pick and pick at the "bad" 1% to make it better while the other 99% may be fantastic. I was born the same year as SJ, built my own Altair, worked 20+ years for HP and fully understand the culture. I sold all my HP stock and threw in for Apple a while back, specifically because they foster the spark that Bill and Dave engendered in the likes of SJ and Woz, where the new HP has lost touch with those most excellent roots, so sad.
Regarding this issue, it's a good explanation and a good way to handle lithiums. Other phones I've had (HTC) would terminate the charge at 100% and don't not top off again until removed from charge and put back on. If left on the charger the phone begins to discharge, leave it a day or more I have found it down below 90% so I like that Apple tops up the battery periodically. Also, this is really nice while traveling and using an external powerpack to keep the iPad or phone fully charged when you reach your destination, My HTC would hit 100%, then stop using power from the external pack, something that my Apple products don't do.
I absolutely HATE imbedded, non-replaceable batteries, and units with no real power switch, pretty much done with all Apple products. If you leave one in a drawer for 6 months, it is always comsuming a small amount of power (to sense the power button press), and you can destroy the battery by allowing them to go dead, especially lithiums. I understand their point of view, keeping things sleek and thin and probably disposable. I do roll my products every year but not everyone can afford to, and the battery will fade in 2-3 years (standard life of a lithium weather you use it or not) and a iPad that is literally glued together is not easily serviced by anyone.
So I'm no Apple hater, they pretty much rock in my book, but everything can be done better (like the player on the iPad!)
