@Chip Bennett -

It concerns me, Chip, that you ask that question!

If Automattic aren't thinking about WP4, then we should all be a lot more worried than the even the original article's author is.

WP4 (call it whatever you want) is the the big revamp of WordPress. It's Windows 8; it's iOS7; it's iPod touch; it's Max OSX 10.0.

You can't just wake up one day and say, "Hey, let's build WP4". When you are as big as WP, you should have long term development plans.

WP4 has to happen one day. Automattic need to already be considering that day. Otherwise, when it comes, they won't be ready.

As Steve Jobs said before he died, Apple had products in the pipeworks for at least a couple of years into the future. That doesn't mean any of those products were set in concrete.

You can bet Apple has been talking about and making plans for OS XI since well before Steve died..

WP was caught napping by Ghost and Medium and now has to play catch up to convince users WP is still relevant as a simple to use blogging platform.

Ford employ a "Futurist" whose job it is to look as far forward as 2050. 37 years. Surely Automattic can look and plan two to five years ahead? https://www.toledoblade.com/Automotive/2013/06/23/Futurist-at-Ford-looks-far-ahead.html

Automattic should be already sketching out WP4, even if it is 2 or more years away.