Yeah, but comparing something to its earlier selves is kind of a cop-out. Like, "My new Freightliner is sure better than my five year old Freightliner! How dare you call it crude and hard-riding compared with typical cars?"
Not having read the article, I do understand that for the average buyer who does not use the JKU's capabilities, it is a harsh ride... but that's not the point. Or is it? M.Manley claimed that most buyers wanted it for the convertible feature, and every Jeep buyer I've ever met outside of Allpar has bought it for that same reason. Some went rock crawling or off-roading because they already had the Jeep but they didn't buy it for that.
While I know that's largely a factor of living in the Northeast, where there are darned few off-road courses and precious little need for off-roading, to the point where I have a really hard time finding dirt roads for photography (the one I used for the last review is now barricaded behind "do not enter" signs as is the “Jeep trail” in the Scranton area I tried to use last week), but ... the Northeast is Jeep's largest market.
I have no problem with telling people "the ride is harsh if you're not using this for its intended purpose." Again, you can say the same about any "heavy duty" pickup (save Ram 2500, apparently), many sports cars, etc. (I often wonder about people who pay huge sums of cash to get a BMW and then drive it like a granny -- indeed, I wondered that yesterday as I followed in my humble Valiant, impatient with the BMW driver in front who was scared to take a highway curve at over 25 mph, which I know my Valiant can do without fuss at 40.) A Corvette is a punishing vehicle as a daily driver, and if you’re like 80% of drivers out there and never push the car to its limits, what's the point? (It's the looks and reputation - trick question - which is probably why many people buy Wranglers, too.)