You make good points, and I'll try to explain myself as best as I can. (I'm Sean, I wrote this article).

String templates outperform DOM, this was very true in the past and as far as I know still is true. The great advantage of it, is the "live" data bindings, which I think depend on the template being the actual live DOM. (I can be wrong here, and if I am then I need to go learn more about this choice)

As for the documentation point, you are right I contradict myself. What I meant to say is that angular suggests a way to structure your application versus backbone for example that only gives you the tools and no structure.

Thanks for pointing these out, I'll have to be more careful on how I express myself next time I write something.