This comes across more like Apple refusing to make a mouse with two buttons.
That hasn't worked out so badly for them. Their trackpads don't have two buttons, either. And in line with the analogy, Apple doesn't prevent you from using a mouse with two buttons: you can buy other input devices and use them with a Mac if it has the appropriate drivers. In this case, you just need to buy an adapter.
Edited to add: By the way, please don't read me as saying you're wrong, or naïve. If it's coming across that way, it's poor writing on my part. I don't realistically see a way for Apple to handle this in a way that's going to push the industry in the direction it wants it to go and please everyone at the same time. There's an element of truth to a tweet I saw the other day: I paraphrase "It's not a MacBook release without someone complaining about ports."
If you've been using computers long enough, you'll have survived this before. If you haven't, you're lucky because it's not out of question that the next step is wireless everything — no ports at all! (Then you'll just need a little dongle for all of old equipment that doesn't support wireless.)