Have to disagree with that piece. The best time to learn Japanese is now. Instant translation of a problematic sentence in your web browser makes learning grammar easier. Copying and pasting a new kanji into Jisho is a lot quicker than looking up radicals/# of strokes in your electronic dictionary.
Many more resources to aid listening practice now, such as the publication of various Japanese and TV/Movie scripts on the web. Apps to chat with Japanese people, like Hello Talk. Wanikani app on your smartphone. List goes on.
Playing an RPG in Japanese and come across a problematic passage? Just take a photo with your phone and translate that stuff, then look at the kanji and analyze the grammar points you're rusty on. And I still keep kanji notebooks and fill them out at Starbucks, to complement all that.
You can certainly get faster answers now, but does that mean better learning? Or does the time spent with a problem, looking up characters by radicals, provide a better foundation? My gut says it’s the latter, but I don’t honestly know.
There's so much to learn with Japanese, from the kanji, to the vocabulary, to the grammar--that efficiency trumps all else. Especially if you also have a full-time job or something else that demands your time, like a family. People still value face-to-face communication and fluency, too.
I make my Japanese coworkers laugh with linguistic jokes I make up myself on the spot. Google can't do that. The multilingual Japanese office can be a lot of fun.
Speaking of the multilingual Japanese office, gotta go back there now!