Yeah it’s all totally over the top and I bet that it’ll get all the more popular, at least until things like the Unifilter, Wafo baskets and the like are far cheaper.
WDT was looked at with the exact same scepticism but I’d guess that lots if not most on here now WDT or do some sort of distribution, which is a lot more effort, with greater cost and more negligible results than putting a paper filter in your basket.
It’s always up to how much effort you want to put in, but this seems both easier and a lot cheaper than a lot of other steps and accessories that are more popular and part of the espresso orthodoxy now.