> Try using DOM APIs to build anything remotely complex or interactive.

I think the core question is: Are we building something complex or interactive. I don't see the need for React or other frameworks unless you're storing a lot of mutable states client-side. But more often than not, all I see is replicating the database through API endpoints.

Any user facing website that is not a portfolio site is interactive. The days where the web is display-only are long past.