I think this graph is somehow invalidated in recent times. Now we have something in the middle: Minimalist blogging platforms which provide the service sans the need to rebuild the site every time you publish something.
The graph was true, because handling the static site was a big time sink and also prevented me from having a blog. Otherwise you have to go full Wordpress or similar.
Now I use Mataroa. There's also prose.sh, bearblog, smolpub and possibly others. Being able to type something away in your notes app, and share it to somewhere is an unprecedented power enabler. Because it's simple, transparent, and heck, it works.
This is the also proposition of Obsidian publish. Yes you have Quartz4, which needs Node, NPM, and a factorio pipeline plus a server and whatnot. You select the pages, press publish and presto. Your site is up in "5" seconds flat.
Removing the exciting tech and making it simple, thin and invisible is a great way to make people to work your tool. If I want, I can make all the CI/CD dance and animate it in the process to entertain myself, but no. I want a simple, minimalist blog with a nice layout. Hence Mataroa.
Alto caters to the same demographic, and is brilliant for that.