The article seems to suggest bread machines and slow cookers have gone away - I use both at least a couple of times a week.
The author describing preparing meals as a “Sisphyian task” is all you really need to know. If you don’t like cooking no amount of new (or old!) gadgets is going to make it better. I also use my slow cooker all the time.
Seriously, who thinks cooking is hard? Some meals are like five ingredients, six if you want to be fancy with it. As long as you have a knife, a pot and a pan you can make so many good dishes.
The only single-use appliance I will advocate for is a rice cooker, because they’re cheap and they free your pot up for other things while still making perfect rice.