Except...there ARE some "rare birds" in pedal-land that are definitely pedals, but they don't have the footswitches. One is sitting just a foot away from me right now, in fact: the Korg X-911 "guitar synth". I've seen it used like that, with a guitar or other instrument played monophonically...and I've also seen (and used) it as a patchable processing device, with numerous patchpoints for synth functions AND additional footswitches.
My take on the pedals is that if it's supposed to fit on a pedalboard, and if it's used for processing like a pedal, then it's a pedal. But if it's obviously NOT supposed to be there, then it's not one. F'rinstance, the Alesis IODock...the idea there is that you can load up FX chains in the iPad that it's supposed to dock with, but I'm pretty such the last place you want an iPad sitting would be where your feet are poking around at other switches and pedals. "Recipe for disaster"-sort of scenario, y'know? Similarly, things like a DFAM or a Field Kit are also NOT supposed to sit where your feet are swinging around, unless you like broken knobs, scratched-up graphics, and dented panels. A good case for that would be Pittsburgh's Patch Box...very beefy pedal enclosure, but if you're putting crunchable modules IN it, well...
I agree, there's stuff in there that's not supposed to be. But it takes a bit of care to pull things out of MG that people have in use in their builds. Even so, the pedals category could use a tad of careful cleaning.