The Artist was a phenomenal movie and deserved to win. For anyone who has ever seen silent films from that era and realizes it was much too common for someone like George Valentin to get forgotten in the era of Talkies, it was appropriate and accurate. If you didn't have the right voice type you were out of a job. And it was true, a lot of people thought that talkies would just be a joke, especially The Jazz Singer.
Much more accurate (though less funny) than Singin' In The Rain, btw.
The Artist is an excellent silent film, and I hope we see more silent films in the future. I miss seeing films like The Kid and City Lights on TCM, it doesn't happen enough.