Like it or not, web interfaces have done more to influence what a good UI
is than MS or IBM or any other committee could have
Whaaaat? Good UI?
The 800x600 pixels web pages on my 1600x1200 screen, wasting 75% of that
space, and in the same time being unreadable, the only way to scroll is
by being able to grab a 4x4 pixel round knob, ignoring my keyboard,
streaming music, and ignoring me pressing the back button of the browser?
Yes, there are some good sites out there. But very few.
And you will notice that those sites are carefull not to go overboard.
2-3 font families? Yes.
3-5 font sizes? Yes.
2-3 colors? Yes.
Beyond that is abuse.
And it is not me saying that.
These are lessons from the typography world.
They had some hundreds of years to refine it.
Look for "The Elements of Typographic Style"
Gradient background, objects with glow, shadows, and reflection, animated
in a rotating carusel of 252 objects? No, thanks!
That's not progress.
Sure some is overblown. But you think 2-3 font familes with 3-5 font sizes