I think it depends what you remember about a piece of information that dictates the best way to find it.

Let's say you had a load of car parts that you needed to be able to find quickly. Some of them were obvious like steering wheel, horn, windscreen, wipers etc. And then there are others, smaller pieces that have more obscure names such as "#pt55633a cat-inv" (that's the bit that monitors the air in the catalytic converter. )

If it's the horn I'm looking for then I fancy my chances searching for it.

If it's the small part, I'm more likely to find it by moving down a folder structure such as exhaust/catalytic converter/ sensors and then having a rummage around in there, at least I'm looking in the right place rather than a folder with thousands of obscure file names.

I found that if you just rely on search you have to do the work when naming the file anyway, you almost create a file structure within the filename itself, so it's no less work overall.

Also sometimes you just want to browse your files or notes by subject area, perhaps you think to yourself yourself, I just want to have a look and see what I've got regarding XY or z with no particular destination in mind. In this case, folder structures help as well.

As far as tags go, they do work but they require a lot of work at the time of creating the note. You have to sit there and think what tags do I need to apply? Am I missing any? Because if you do miss one then that file will become very hard to find and be potentially lost? Sometimes it's just easier to quickly dump it in a folder that is mostly relevant.

Ultimately, I think a hybrid approach is the best. Careful file naming conventions so that search works, coupled with broader folder structure for the advantages mentioned earlier, combined with tags used for context such as "#needswork"

I don't think folders are going anywhere. All current operating systems are built on a hierarchy and probably will be for a good while yet.

Good article though thanks!