I agree with everything you said. SRS is very seductive, but after you do it for some time it loses its glamor and just becomes another tool in the tool belt. John Pasden's article that you linked to is great and on point. SRS becomes annoying after some time.
A few months from now Derek is going to be asked what Array(5) does. He will be pissed off that he doesn't know the correct answer, but does now remember to not use the Array constructor because it is ambiguous and the literal syntax is better.
var a = []; a.length = 5; is better than: var a = Array(5)
The former is obvious nonsense, the latter is non-obvious nonsense. If derek is like me, he will then be asked to rate his knowledge, and be pissed off that he now knows more but anki makes him admit to not knowing it.
A few months from now Derek is going to be asked what Array(5) does. He will be pissed off that he doesn't know the correct answer, but does now remember to not use the Array constructor because it is ambiguous and the literal syntax is better.
var a = []; a.length = 5; is better than: var a = Array(5)
The former is obvious nonsense, the latter is non-obvious nonsense. If derek is like me, he will then be asked to rate his knowledge, and be pissed off that he now knows more but anki makes him admit to not knowing it.