My Dad had a little darkroom in the basement, by the time I was about 12 years old, I was developing and printing my own pictures. That would have been around 1961. As a junior in high school, I was photographing the football games with a SLR (a cheap Minolta from a pawn shop, but it was a SLR with a few lenses). Every now and then, the newspapers would pay me a few bucks for a shot. Saved some money and had a Nikon by the time I went to college in 1967. I never stopped taking pictures, developing them, sometimes publishing them.
And so it continued, first digital camera in 1999. I retired from a long career in theatrical design in 2011, photography was always an important part - not only as part of the design, but documenting my productions, carpenters building the scenery, crews working backstage and finally production photos.
After I retired, something curious happened though. Have always been big on nature photography and especially landscapes. But it gradually dawned on me, I was too busy thinking like a photographer and designer to actually *experience* my nature hikes. So, I stepped way back from it all, left the camera at home and started to really observe and experience nature. My old Nikon DSLR died about 5 years ago with a jammed shutter. Not worth fixing, it was old. I could buy a used body just as good for $100-$200 (already have a bunch of Nikkor lenses). But I'm not going to do it - at least not now.
I'm quite happy just enjoying life these days. Maybe it's because I worked professionally as a designer for so long that my mind automatically switches to "work" mode if I'm composing and editing photos? Whatever the reason, I don't really relax and just take things in if I'm carrying a camera. It becomes a "photo shoot". I don't have much (if any) "disposable income" in retirement, if I did then I'd probably buy a nice new Nikon body. But I'm just not motivated to do that. I still take pictures with my (old) iPhone and that's good enough for me. In fact, I really love panorama mode on the phone.
Anyway, that article is missing the most important stage for me: the "post-photographer", - stepping back to just observe and appreciate the natural world without looking at it on a screen or through a viewfinder.