Why do web site developers insist on ruining functionality with whiz-bang?
Short answer: Because they can.
Developers seem to think they aren't doing their job if they don't include every new toy that's available in a web page or site. They forget that probably 90 percent of the people who will actually be looking at those pages probably don't have the latest, greatest super computer in the universe with which to execute all the garbage they toss in. It's been one of my pet peeves for years.
And another is changing the design of a site just for the sake of changing it. CNN changed their site for regular viewers, too, not just for mobile devices. It's difficult to find anything, and they eliminated the "Justice" story area entirely.
And then there are the program developers. Firefox recently changed their whole user interface. The new one, IMHO, is horrible to the point of being unusable. Installing the new version over an existing version does NOT remember your customization (such as where tabs are located, and which buttons or icons you've added to the basic menu bar). To top it off, in order to keep any semblance of the Firefox you're accustomed to using, you can't just click an icon or menu choice and revert to "Classic Theme." Oh, no -- you have to download and install an unsupported add-on.
I think all web and program developers should be required to work on computers that are not less than five years old, and all new programs and applications should likewise be beta tested on such "legacy" machines.