This article isn't very good, so I'm just gonna skip commenting on it.

Yes, the web is slower, but not in a the pure measurement of "is this js bigger, and does it take longer to execute" sort of way. It's more in the, now you have 39 js's trying to run on a page that's just some text and a few pictures, whereas that used to be 0-3 js's. For those of you who use ublock origin but not matrix, matrix will really open your eyes to this proliferation.

It's mostly management decisions that get shoved down the throats of devs, but I would say it's also devs who love to throw a thousand frameworks in-between content and delivery.

Simplification of stack is a market advantage I think eventually more and more companies will start to realize... at some point in the future.