This trend is terrible, not only those webpages are hard to read, but they're also hogging CPU. I had to close a tab with it, because it reduced my remaining time on battery from 50mins to 20 mins...
Same, though I think perhaps the ideal solution is somewhere in the middle. If built with it in mind, the page should gracefully degrade to something more basic, where the videos are all optional. I can see how this would put strain on mobile devices(as another comment responding to the parent pointed out)
I see your point.
But I love that it's one feature at a time, rather than being placed between two columns of links to other stories, other photos, automatically-playing videos, and ads.
I would rather see the text broken up more with images and pullquotes rather than less. I find a story like this presented as a bland slab of text so mundane unless I have the time to really sit down and read it, which is never.
I'm starting to see it more and more.
It reminds me of when "Multimedia CD-ROMs" first appeared circa mid-1990s, where flashy interfaces were ranked much higher than useability.
Please stop it. Give me a webpage with text, and images that I can enlarge when clicked. Thank you.