I think it's more that you always have a bunch of other things competing for your attention on the internet so there's no incentive to read things you once wanted to read.
Even an article you just opened in a tab competes with scavenging for more info on HN/Reddit/Twitter. I don't think that's evidence that the articles are just worthless.
Once, when the internet was out for a few days, I realized that iOS saves your reading list items for offline reading and I was glad to have it. All sorts of interesting articles that I curated. I now work through the reading queue on flights.
Even an article you just opened in a tab competes with scavenging for more info on HN/Reddit/Twitter. I don't think that's evidence that the articles are just worthless.
Once, when the internet was out for a few days, I realized that iOS saves your reading list items for offline reading and I was glad to have it. All sorts of interesting articles that I curated. I now work through the reading queue on flights.