He point of "its just IMAP" is mute. Gmail supports IMAP. Regardless of how reliable it is on and ongoing basis, if you look at it for the ability to export your data, its the same as what he has.

It sounds like his point is to use a smaller service. A smaller service would be less complex, but services that are bigger are likely popular for a reason.

A car that is a best seller is worth considering buying. You don't want to avoid a best seller just because its a best seller.

The article isn't a plea to pay for gmail, which you probably inferred from reading the title or first paragraph.