I don't know who or what 'Gryder' is, but I do not take him to be an expert in large aeroplane operations or landings! It sounds to me like he is commentating beyond his experience. I have flown 747s for 18 years, and 4 engine intercontinental jets for 7 years before that. I have seen 747 arrivals like that. Usually one can't wait to get up to see the pilots and laugh and say 'planted that a bit, didn't you?!'. But not have a heavy landing check done. That was firm. A 'hard' landing would have bounced. You want to see a hard landing, go to the Pan Am SFO hydraulic failure landing on one system out of four, with 1/4 elevator capacity. That was a bounce that went 30' back up into the air. This was just a firm arrival to make a turnoff in time.
I like the way the author of that article dispenses with pilot testimonies of what the landing was like! Yeah- is he such an expert? Yet again, sensationalism rules, and when you try and say 'it wasn't such a drama' you get shouted down because you are pricking peoples' imaginations that 'yes, there was a drama here!'. There wasn't!
Funny how adverse comment about the 380 appears at the slightest excuse. Behold the 747 replacement- a long awaited replacement of a 45 year old design that can't be stretched on forever!