8+8 came MUCH later than that, and really wasn't ready for prime time.  The reason we know that is that work was the basis of LISP and ILNP.  Yes, standing on the shoulders of giants.  And there certainly were poor design decisions in IPv6, bundling IPsec being one.  But the idea that operators were ignored?  Feh.

and 8+8, variable length, ... just didn't happen, eh?

the nice thing about revisionist history is that anybody can play.

randy