I hope that bet is right. Even so, there must be a way to avoid this kind of response. Sometimes debate to get into the news is good, but I think in this case it would make more sense to have the response be "Facebook releases awesome interface!" Apple was able to do it with the iPhone and while there were people who didn't like the pseudo keyboard, the raves far outweighed the complaints.
The iphone was a new product, that's the difference.
The only thing comparable in the Apple world is the release of OS X. At the time there was A LOT of complaint, much of it extremely well-reasoned. Diehards clung to OS 9 for years for pure interface reasons. Of course Apple didn't take quite as big a public opinion hit as Facebook due to the technical benefits and the horrible obsolescence of OS 9.
Does Facebook need to avoid this backlash? Only if people actually stop using it, which seems unlikely.
