The problem is that the way most modern systems are scaled, they are very short lived. When the purpose of a code base is to turn HTTP requests into SQL queries and SQL results into HTML responses, then the objects end up being a thin layer between function calls.

That's not a necessary outcome; in a parallel universe something like Prevayler would have given us long-lived object graphs in a lot of the places where we now use OO languages on top of external databases. But that's sure not the world we live in.

Another factor that I think made things worse was the massive increase in the number of programmers during the Internet boom. I love working with code from master OO developers, especialy those of the test-driven, domain-driven sort. But OO approaches allow so many degrees of freedom that it's easy for relatively junior developers to make giant messes. Messes that I don't even think of really as OO, just snarls that happen to be in OO languages. Regardless, I think the September That Never Ended kept the average OO code base in a state much worse than the best ones.

Anyhow, I'm excited to see the state of practice moving forward, inch by inch.