Yes, you're right.  So it's a long story.  Basically DNS was a small project by Jon Postel added on to HTTP in the early days.  They didnt know it would grow and grow.  And when things grow alot then politics and centralization comes into play.  In the end DNS and HTTP bring alot to each other, and both can be useful alone.  HTTP->HTTPS had its own share of politics too.  DNS can work standalone and you cut out a lot of the complexity.