I agree. The web stack is a castle on a swamp, except that swamp is itself built above a hyperspace junction linking everything in the world together.

The web surpassed HyperCard from day one, simply by locating its resources on the network. And that's why people put up with it, even if we have to dive into a fetid quagmire every time we use it.

HyperCard versus the web is a classic example of Worse is Better.