[polygotdomain]

I don't know why I find articles like this so annoying, but in accordance with Betteridge's law of headlines[0], the answer is no.

>Here’s the thing: If it hadn’t been <form>, it would have been another element—maybe one with a more accurate name, like <money-vacuum> or <robot-food> or <privacy-destroyer>.

This sums up pretty much the entire article in that A) the form tag allowing the web to be a two-way street for data probably would've been filled by another feature, and B) the author is really lamenting about the tracking/anti-privacy/dark pattern world that the web has become. I completely understand the frustration, but it's certainly not an element's fault, but the fault of all the various players who have evolved the web over 25-30ish years. It might be more beneficial to actually explore that than blaming an html element.

>The web was born to distribute information on computers, but the technology industry can never leave well enough alone.

That's called progress.

FWIW, I'd probably say XMLHttpRequest "caused more damage" than the form tag, but I also don't think it's all that worthy of a discussion.

[0] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law_of_headline...