Why 32GB of RAM is becoming the standard"
Because programmers are incompetent.
https://honk.tedunangst.com/u/tedu/h/189775FqjZ7tN7qz6F
IMHO: It's cheaper (for the company) and faster to "add abstraction" (package a browser as a desktop app) than finding fitting/educate programmers to do "the efficient" thing.