That's what I try to say in the article. This is "A" possible future, and it is a first iteration of a totally new product. The first iPhone wasn't a success, and many people were convinced a phone without a keyboard couldn't be the future.
Another way to make the reading experience much better would be to not use the color black. This article explains pretty well why you should never use this color. http://ianstormtaylor.com/design-tip-never-use-black/
That's actually a good point, and we're currently working at getting rid of this animation for this exact same reason. Sorry if you had a bad experience because of that.
We like using CSS animations as long as they don't hide any content, because we think they create a much more enjoyable experience on our marketing pages. We try to use them only when it makes sense, and in that case, indeed, it does not. Thanks for the feedback.