Today the average webpage is about the same size, data-wise, as the classic computer game Doom, according to software engineer Ronan Cremin.
A compressed copy of the installer for the shareware version of Doom takes up about 2.39MB of space. Today’s average webpage, meanwhile, requires users to download about 2.3MB worth of data, according to HTTP Archive, a site that tracks website performance and the technologies they use.
Over the years, networks have increased in speed, computers have increased in performance, and web pages have ballooned in size to use these available resources. Like when meetings expand to fill the time allotted to them. Parkinson's Law and whatnot.
In a nutshell, this is why I'm happy that Apple isn't just "fixing" the "16 GB iPhone problem" by offering 32 GB iPhones in their base models. It would be an easy "solution" to the perceived "problem," but only temporarily. 20 years from now, we'd still feel these constraints, just with 10x the storage space.
The better solution is to step back and evaluate why 16 GB feels so constrained on a smartphone, and try to more efficiently use the available storage space. Even if it results in a whole lot of complaining from some your customers. The result is that we now have smaller OS update sizes, app thinning, and on demand resources. I wouldn't be surprised to see additional space-saving advancements announced at WWDC this year.