He didn't say that you can't lead an R&D team without a PhD. He said it equips you to do so. There's no claim about it being the exclusive path to leading an R&D team.
I own the vacuum pictured in the first link. I bought it with high expectations and disappointment began to set in almost immediately. After 3 years of not-totally-clean floors and periodic struggles getting the rotating brush to work, I finally replaced it with a much cheaper competing brand. My carpets and floors have never been cleaner.
Agreed. I'm also extremely skeptical when classmates, instructors, or co-workers use similar tactics. I have found that, when pressed, they will often reveal that the rest is not nearly as trivial as advertised.
The assertion that users can make unlimited purchases after entering credentials just once is false: "Customers need only enter their password once when activating the payment portion of the app and then use the app to make unlimited purchases without having to key in the password or username again."
That is, unless you have automatic reloading on, which is a crucial point. This doesn't excuse the practice of storing passwords in clear text, but it's an important detail.