One quote that caught my eye right in the beginning of the article was:
"Maybe a better analogy would be an art gallery and a poster shop, where the same information - framed images - is organized and displayed in ways that perfectly suit the needs of each audience."
I think it is very important for web designers and those who write specifically for the web to understand that the web offers a wide range of audience and that the content and the design needs to appease that large audience in order for the web site to be a success.
It's important to make the elements of your page to look good on a wide range of browsers, monitors, and Internet connection speeds. It's also essential to know the different between JPEG and GIF and when to use these images to their best potential. Proper knowledge of image files can make "blazing" sites.
The article describes the aesthetic of the web to be similar to a children's toy, "simple, bright, and playful." Web users want fun and happy web sites to play on and read from.
Web sites should always follow a structure and all the information presented on the site should follow that structure both because it is appeasing to the eye and because it is helpful in organizing all the information on the site.
People should not feel bad about "stealing" other designers good ideas, especially when first starting out. The article states, " ...imitation is the quickest path to mastery." Once you gain experience feel free to use your creativity and go out on your own and maybe other novices will copy your work.
Lastly, but just as important, form must follow function! A web site with a fancy font and bright colors may be pretty, but it is readable? Is it easy to navigate? Does the audience know what the point is? The appearance is certainly important, but web designers must keep the function of the site in mind.