I totally agree with the vertical alignment of labels, as it does actually make user input faster. The problem (mentioned in the article) is when the page becomes too long. Clients don't tend to like this.
One approach I normally use is to have the labels horizontally placed, but right aligned so that they "stick" to the input field:
One approach I normally use is to have the labels horizontally placed, but right aligned so that they "stick" to the input field:
as opposed to: