I wonder how far £1.50 will get you in provincial cities.
Not very far. In many places, you wouldn't get on the bus for as little as £1.50. Even Lothian (generally considered to be good value) has just raised their fare to £1.60. In Aberdeen, for example, it's £2.30 for any journey of reasonable length (it's hard to ascertain just how far this gets you because that information is apparently a commercial secret, but it's gets you through between three and five "zones", whatever they may be - the cheaper 1-2 zone fare was generally never sold). Glasgow's generally £2 (again, excluding "short hop" fares which very few people would use). And don't ask about transfers - the concept does not exist in the bus industry. It's another single fare.
London's buses already provide good value, at £1.50 single and a £4.50 automatic cap for the day.
I do think the 1-hour bus fare is a sensible idea. Not all buses go where you want them to go, and it's not unreasonable to transfer. It seems inherently just that passengers are not penalised based on the whim of the route planners. This is a move that will likely increase ridership, particularly for journeys where you have to make a transfer.
The one-hour window seems perfectly reasonable to me: bear in mind that London's buses have a ridiculously high frequency and you won't be waiting in excess of ten minutes in very many places. Most people don't stay on buses for long periods of time, and even though London has some very long routes I would imagine that people don't often ride from end to end. There will be a small number of people who manage a whole return trip in this time, and will be inadvertent beneficiaries of this scheme, although I suspect the number is small and will probably rise as a result of the 1-hour bus ticket, thus generating more revenue. There will be a small number of people doing longer journeys who will still be charged twice, but it could be argued that if you are doing a longer journey you should pay more. Everyone benefits, because you will never pay more than you have now and are quite likely to pay less.
Perhaps a more efficient way to register to transfers would be to introduce a "tap out to transfer" on the buses - where you tap your Oyster/CPC/Phone on a dedicated pad at the exit doors to active a 15 minute transfer window (or whatever time is appropriate), so that your next journey within that window is free? But it's a more complex and costly exercise, which adds complexity for both bus users and the bus operators, so I can't see my idea becoming a reality.
As for the moaners - I don't think there are any bus operators outwith London that operate at the frequency TfL do, that operate with fares as low as TfL, and there are certainly none that will cap your daily fares for you, and none that will even remotely consider a transfer. London's buses are leaps and bounds ahead of what people have to endure elsewhere.