Hi Dennis,
I agree with your point. I have used cell manipulation, since to get control of input. Now, I removed the getCells() method, instead I used jQuery to get the input control id. Please check the sample - Table Input without cell manipulation 
And just on a lighter note, old logic will still work, even though you have more number of list items in table. Please check the sample - Table Input with Cell Manipulation
Regards,
Sai Vellanki.