Drew McLellan wonders Why is Progressive Enhancement so unpopular?:
Does that mean we shouldn’t use JavaScript? Of course not. Scripting in the browser is an important part of the experience of using the web in 2014. It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t depend on JavaScript running for your site to work. Build with HTML, add styling with CSS, add behaviour with JavaScript. If the JavaScript fails, the HTML should still work.
Simon St. Laurent touched on this as well in Web Application Development is Different (and Better):
Let’s extend the Web and help it do more – but let’s do that by valuing the many strengths it already brings.
Intentional or not the last few years have brought us a strong push to ignore the idea of progressive enhancement. In many cases that has been to our detriment.