I can see why you think they said that, especially when looking at this solely from a mage perspective, but they really didn’t. How would that even work for other specs that aren’t based around a particular element or for non-casters? No, all they did was try to put a positive spin on the fact that they decided to make fewer Hero Trees and force two specs to share them.
P.S. For what it’s worth I share your frustration but I’ve seen this movie before time and again with Blizzard and knew not to expect any better. I too would love for things to get shaken up because the status quo is not even worth trying to preserve but they’re just not going to do that because it’s too much work.
P.P.S. Just for the record I said that way back in December. Get an Early Look at Hero Talents in The War Within - #35 by Kerathras-dalaran