Also note that he's probably not using a Chromium-based browser for his "web browsing" experience... base Safari does fine with 8GB, even with a large amount of open tabs.
Perhaps the contrary: 8GB is already a humongous RAM size. Especially if backed up by a fast SSD.
That really should be enough for everyday jobs like the examples mentioned (waaay more than enough, imho).
As for pro-level / servers / serious gamers / engineering jobs etc: sure, go ahead and deck it out to whatever budget & product offerings allow.
Just remember this is a decidedly different market segment than average consumer.
Ooh, relying on swap to your limited write cycle irreplaceable mass storage seems like a bridge too far to me. I know they do it, but I worry it will shorten the device lifespan if it’s relied on too much.
I am not a fan of the idea that we’d engineer a device to consume a limited resource like that in normal operation.