They are just saying that the goal of PAF was to sound like a PAF without the noise. There are many people, including the early pickup designers that feel the P90 is the best pickup that was ever made. And some of those early PAFs do sound quite a bit like an hot Balckguard Tele pickup.
This is a convoluted statement of logic:
"The characterization that a great burst Les Paul sounds like a Telecaster on steroids is really talking about how a humbucking pickup succeeded in sounding like a quiet P90"
WTF
I've never heard anyone say a great burst Les Paul sounds like a Telecaster with P90's