When you're driving a small car, do you expect the lanes to automatically shrink for you?
It's a standard so no one has to think "does this page have enough space", and the notes are often relevant to the current page. Stuff like the photo in https://www.thedailybeast.com/photo-details-obamas-speech-ed...
I was referring to the notes, notices and various preambles occupying the first quarter of the document.