If you just bought a Mac in order to develop for iPhone then yes, you need to create an Apple ID and jump through all the hoops. Like if I wanted to run that aptitude command I would have to download, install Ubuntu and learn unix first.
But if you already are a mac user then you already have an Apple ID. It is absurd to say that you need it to download Xcode.
But if you already are a mac user then you already have an Apple ID. It is absurd to say that you need it to download Xcode.