From the article, it seems that the problem is on the iOS side, not the PC side. Having a converter doesn't change the protocol you have to speak on the device itself.
Perhaps I didn't make my point clear, but what I meant by a converter cable involved converting Lightning signals to USB signals within the cable itself (i.e. there's a microprocessor within the cable that converts the signals from one form to another).
Your point is fine. But the limitations on the iOS side are more significant than you seem to realise. things that I'm aware of that apps can take advantage of:
* midi signals
* plain audio signals
* looking like a usb flash drive to the built in photos app
That's the whole list. The only one that seems vaguely useable for something like raw IO is midi signals!
