Note that the ECMA-48 escape sequences themselves are the good dependency, not abstractions that hide them, like your tput command or curses or what have you.
I think the OP's article is saying that they are both good and bad depending on the context. You need to evaluate these things on a case by case basis. Writing a little TUI for yourself or your team? Sure, go nuts with escape codes. Making a well supported tool that runs on any developer's machine? Maybe consider curses, there are probably more edge cases than you think.
Trying to find product market fit as a startup? Who gives a duck, find some customers before you care too much about the tech =P cattle not pets etc
