In his latest article for Digital Web Magazine Dirk Knemeyer urges us to "completely re-think" our conceptual model of Web design because we "mired in a dystopian Neverland" where our current level of execution is "collectively dreadful."

Given that there there is a finite number of people types using the web to achieve a limited set of objectives, it's a wonder he argues, that we all start by developing a customised user experience solution. "Each site owner is making a one-off investment in design direction. Why do we need this layer?"

The alternative is to hand over most of this design and development layer to the browser, or even reducing the role of the distributed Web to the connectivity that powers any number of desktop applications such as Apple's iTunes, which feature "faster, denser information displays." Site design would become "a process of content collection,organisation and creation, with a minimal amount of visual design and assembly...it makes perfect business sense."

Er, is this really the same Dirk Knemeyer who last year declared the end of the usability paradigm which has populated the Web uninspiringly samey websites and its replacement by a more innovative, design-led approach?

Amongst the issues that can be taken with his argument, these stand out:

• "There are millions of companies and individuals each trying to solve similar problems anew. That is wasteful and shortsighted." Yes, but a pool of variations and a selection process involving criminal levels of wastefulness is the the basis of what we call evolution.
• Is Dystopian Neverland just a way of describing the general and actually quite useful messiness of life? The Web isn't broken, it just isn't a single well-structured and fixed thing, and nor should it be.
• Imagine that every similar store in Oxford Street was based on the same architectural and design template with the only real differentiation on pricing and service. Would that really make for a better shopping experience? Just because our everyday experiences don't work well for everyone does not necessarily imply that they fail to satisfy anyone.
• The iTunes Store works because people accept the need for a desktop application to manage their music libraries and handle file transfers to their iPod. This doesn't mean they would want to download separate applications for Amazon, eBay etc.
• He mentions "tipping point" twice.

Still, if Knemeyer had cared to adopt a less melodramatic tone, he might have made more of his contrastingly solid ideas about the inclusion within the browser controls (and future Web design standards) of optional settings tailored for specific personas or environments pre-optimised for certain user categories and behaviours.