Yes, MySQL is the kind of database that canonically uses approaches like physical logs and logical logs to provide ACID transactions (and, in MySQL in particular, replication.)

The interesting thing that Prevayler and such things did was that they expanded the use of logical logs beyond simple relational tables to much richer sets of state.

Well I guess one difference between what he's proposing and mysql is that mysql forces you to write data abstractions that can fit into mysql. Same goes for NoSQL DBs. Using his approach you don't have to worry about that.

Not sure that justifies dumping DBs altogether, but it's still an interesting advantage.