Images that don't have width and height attributes always did that. Not adding those attributes to an img tag was considered a sign of a poorly made website in the very early 2000s. I think it might have been the origin of the term "layout thrashing".
Feels like such a step backward
Kind of like when I go for a walk in a forest that I haven't been to. A forest with many possible paths.
Whenever I hit a fork or a junction, I go to the places that seem most interesting. I say to myself: "Oooh it looks like there's a cozy lake over there", or "over there, there's a little river that I can jump over, or play with creating a temporary dam".
If I get lost I can walk back (click the back button) and change my choices, or decide to just walk the same way back/go home (stop reading).
The main focus is the content of the document and the other content it leads to. Not the style, the features, the tech that it uses to load the content. I compare it to books. Most books are the same, predictable. They will have text and some images on pages. When turning a page it will show another page. It wont suddenly ask you to log in or go buy another book in the middle of this one. The covers of the books are slightly different but the basic function is the same. That's it.