The only thing missing from your analogy is the fact that the shacks were filled with personal diaries and curios, while the skyscrapers are mostly chock-full of homogenous sewage slurry.
Also the shacks weren’t really particularly shabby or anything, they were just more like well-enough-constructed single family homes.
Old websites before scripting became popular were pretty much solid in that boring-tech way. Hardware and networks were not as reliable, but the sites themselves could be fine via simplicity.
Modern overdesigned sites are sort of like modern apartment buildings: shitty build quality under fake plastic marble and wood.
