I think he mentions port knocking precisely because he DOES understand point #1 ( the difference between security through obscurity as a layer but not your only layer), and is giving an example of using it as one such layer.
I think this response completely misunderstood the point of the techcrunch article's mentioning of the iphone. It doesn't mean that Home was inspired by the iPhone, just that the people developing it could not possibly be using it on a daily basis (dogfooding) as a test of quality and usability, because they had iPhones which could not run facebook home. Therefore, the original thesis seems to be it was bad because it wasn't actually used by the people developing it, not because it was iPhone-inspired somehow.
I disagree wholeheartedly. Money, a reputation and a tract record are equally important to enthusiasm. Look at what Elon Musk has accomplished with his reputation and money multiplying his enthusiasm. Look at what Bill Gates has done with his money. Who has that kind of impact with conviction alone?
Deferred plans can still be plans.