I think he's just wondering how the changed stardate method is indicative of them running Trek into the ground.
Personally, I don't see how injecting logic and a semblance of consistency into stardates (something only Ent and Trek XI has done) is "dumbing" it down.
I see no logic in using Earth years after Christ's birth as the fundamental time system that a coalition of several alien worlds would agree to use. Same goes for the metric system. It's solely based on Earth dimensions. Vulcan's would have another system, Andorians yet another one, and so forth. For the sake of equality and neutrality it's logical that with the foundation of the Federation there would be a commission that determines new measuring systems based on galactic constants. The frequency of a pulsar for time, and based on that and the speed of light, distances.
IF you feel the need to retcon, then please, for god's sake, retcon it well. But not as stupid as in the movie, please.