Glad to see this was written.

There is so much hyperbole and bandwagon hopping when "Kill [design trend]" articles are written, and people don't take a step back and realistically address the concern at hand.

As the article points out, people are so quick to dismiss something as "the wrong way" without first giving some credit where it is due, and analyzing the design pattern (pros and cons) to determine where its' successes and failures lie.

As with any trend, it becomes popular because it does solve a common problem, and if people start to think it's not the best tool for the job anymore, discuss why it isn't, and in what situations a different solution may be a better fit. Mobile, UI, and UX design are still such young areas of expertise, give each idea some room to breathe and mature before completely banishing it from existence.

edit: Just corrected a grammar mistake

I always call the "Hamburger + Menu Label" a "Hamburger Helper". It's stolen from some guy on twitter, but I can't remember who. I don't really mind coding them, as I expect the next guy to check my code to get a chuckle. Also, I've read articles where the hamburger helper is better for user expectancy, so it's a win-win, really.

I was going to write something similar. I don't understand the obsession with killing the hamburger menu, especially since nobody has (to me, at least) come up with a viable alternative.

The menu icon is beginning to make me salivate... was that the intended user experience?

I'm all in favor of trying new ideas. The hamburger menu has been tried, and we're beginning to see a lot of data from multiple sources, both qualitative and quantitative, all pointing to the same conclusion that it generally doesn't work. If you think it works in some contexts, let's see the data.

How important is the navigation for my project?

I've never worked on a project where navigation wasn't critical. If users getting to features doesn't matter, then those features aren't needed and should be cut.