no, the article itself at the end actually agrees that the proposed solution of many small, generalist instances is a pipedream:
"I personally don't think this will ever be possible, it can only serve as some nice little fantasy to keep me dreaming for better online spaces."
This can never work because generic instances have absolutely nothing that prevents them from growing. After all if a space has no strong, unique characteristics, there's nothing that stops anyone from coming in. This is the ultimate fate of every unopinionated internet community, it "Eternal September"'s itself.
The physical decentralization of Mastodon instances and the resulting tendency towards having unique instances with strict rules is the only thing stopping those instances from growing into a giant blob.
"I personally don't think this will ever be possible, it can only serve as some nice little fantasy to keep me dreaming for better online spaces."
This can never work because generic instances have absolutely nothing that prevents them from growing. After all if a space has no strong, unique characteristics, there's nothing that stops anyone from coming in. This is the ultimate fate of every unopinionated internet community, it "Eternal September"'s itself.
The physical decentralization of Mastodon instances and the resulting tendency towards having unique instances with strict rules is the only thing stopping those instances from growing into a giant blob.