I was 17 when that article came out so of course I remember it and the climate in the entire organization vividly.
To me, the issue is not so much that they were dead wrong (thus false prophets) as the CONSEQUENCES to those who were fed this spoiled spiritual food. We made life's most important decisions based on the belief that the world would POSITIVELY end in 6 years or less. Now take gullible adults with their impressionable children and imagine the dumb shit JW's did which to this day is negatively affecting our lives.
It's easy for younger dubs to pass it off as "old light" Honest older ones know better.