I read this when it was posted earlier this year, and I see where the author is going ... but I also see how he could be misunderstood.
All he's saying is that you should try new things, take some time out and actually build something in a technology that interests you ... not just read about them.
Its the only way to actually expand your skillset and your programming IQ. The really great developers that I've met do this constantly ... Erlang? Check. Haskell? ... been there! Clojure? ... built a webserver in it last night ... for fun. Node.js? ... built an analytics program in it with mongo db while I was on vacation.
Of course some of us aren't blessed that kind of ability to pick up and be productive in a language in a weekend, but it just means that we just need to be more selective with the things we commit to trying out. As with all things ... doing it more often actually makes it easier to pick up new things as they come up, since you get used to the mechanics of actually trying things out.
What I've found is that the 'cross pollination' of ideas from the different languages/frameworks you use will make you a better programmer across the board.
So yeah, don't wait till you actually need a skill to scramble around trying to pick it up ... do half the leg work up front and you'll reap the dividends down the road. Thats how I see it anyway.