I'm interested in the contrast between Flickr and the portfolio sites. I believe (I may be mistaken) Flickr restrained itself in order to allow the photos to be the dominant visual element.
I understand why the portfolio sites are overly designed. It's a quick way to scream, "Hey, we're for designers!" It's more for designers learning from other designers than as a showcase to non-designers.
Flickr is more about the mass market consuming beautiful photos, so that is different. It's interesting that Virb (http://www.virb.com) aims kind of in the middle, and its design is kind of in the middle.
But which is easier to type on, the iPhone or the BlackBerry? I realize I'm just taking one of his example, but simple design is not always the most functional. Devices should definitely have no unnecessary interface or design elements, but there are differing opinions on what is necessary. I really can't imagine typing lots of text messages on a touch screen.
I've gotten quite good at typing on the iPhone. I used to write my girlfriend all of my "Love emails" from my desktop at work. Now I write them all from the iPhone on the plane. 2 or 3 large paragraphs are not a problem, once you get the hang of it. That said, I don't think typing on the iPhone is for everyone. I think UI programmers and programmers and engineers in general will tend to be better at it. We know how to be "nice" to machines.
i'm going to agree with this. i don't do a whole lot of typing on my iphone, because i use it mostly for content consumption, rather than creation. but when i do need to type on it, i don't find that to be a problem.
i especially like how it can have a whole bunch of different keyboards: one optimized for url entry, one for general text, one for phone numbers, one for japanese, and so on. a hardware keyboard feels obsolete the second it's produced, which is the same way i feel about paper printouts these days.
I understand why the portfolio sites are overly designed. It's a quick way to scream, "Hey, we're for designers!" It's more for designers learning from other designers than as a showcase to non-designers.
Flickr is more about the mass market consuming beautiful photos, so that is different. It's interesting that Virb (http://www.virb.com) aims kind of in the middle, and its design is kind of in the middle.