Yes those pool operators were fools. The article you even link to says that he doesn’t understand how it could possibly be chia’s fault that the pool failed as a business. That is just bad business making decisions (the pool, not chia). Also as the article states that chia’s plan has not changed and that is true to this day.
There are plenty of ways to fail at a business. Running a pool is a business. Over 90% of businesses fail in the first year. Why do you think crypto pools are immune to that statistic?
If you think Proof of Stake is a good thing, by all means go for it.
Personally I think it is a terrible idea that completely moves away from Nakamoto consensus.
There were a dozen Chia pools at the beginning when XCH was still booming. Not every business survives in a competitive industry.
That said, Chia’s strict trademark insistence is not something I am a fan of. Earlier examples also showed their lawyers playing hardball without cause.
I would not recomend Ether, the reason is simple after POS it’s not anymore decentral. And thats what crypto should be. POS the rich get richer. And POS needs also computing power ofcourse much lower than POW.