What do you mean by "history shows us otherwise?" Are you saying that all power structures created by humans have continued to rule indefinitely? History actually shows us the opposite, unless I misunderstood what you meant. Genuinely curious.
The designer should have received all relevant context prior to starting the task. There will be exceptions, where a piece of context is missed, and in these cases where feedback is necessary the format of the feedback is important.
Rather than, "do it this way because businessReasons."
Instead, try, "We must not have properly conveyed this aspect of our business, here is the relevant context. Knowing this, how do we solve this design problem?"
If the designer is incapable of translating business requirements into design solutions then perhaps they're not a product/ux designer, maybe just a visual/graphic designer.
Looks great, just as long as there's a verification process to ensure that only designers are giving design feedback.
You wouldn't want your MBA boss looking over your code and suggesting you "break that method out into a new class," why would you want someone who's not a designer telling you to "make the logo bigger."
In addition to using some of the newly created wealth for paying fixed incomes, as the author mentions, we should be using that money to make higher education free.
The author says, "let them eat cake, smoke pot, and play video games." I say let them study art history (or CS). Who knows, maybe it will inspire them to do something useful in our brave new world.
As a person (mini-corporation?) I have expenses; rent, food, etc. It would be great if I only had to pay taxes on my "profit", because my tax burden would then be much lower. Conversely, it would be great if corporations had to pay tax on revenue (more tax money for things we desperately need, like education and healthcare).
If the heated water can be utilized, then, in a way, the energy has been captured. Even in a hot climate it's still nice to take a warm shower. I agree that the title is misleading though.
The reason the big soda brands use HFCS in the US is because it's cheaper (due to corn subsidies). The speciality sodas like Boylan's, etc. compete on quality, not price, so they are able to transfer that cost to the consumer. The consumer with more disposable income wants to justify the extra cost to themselves and peers. "Oh, yeah, this is 'Mexican Coke'. Sure it's more expensive but it has REAL sugar."
Would the average consumer in the midwest be willing to pay more for a 12-pak of Coke if it had real sugar? Maybe, maybe not.
"Flat UI is bad for usability" keeps getting repeated as a criticism against the flat UI trend but is not actually true.
Bad UI design is bad for usability, regardless of VISUAL style.
As jack_trades mentions, there are MANY other ways to convey interactivity without artificial depth, texture.
Think about a simple modal. Users know to look at the top-right, sometimes left, for controls for the modal. What difference does it make if the user sees a flat X icon or an X inside a beveled, drop-shadowed button?
Re: desktop vs. mobile; If a user has to hover over an element just to know if it's interactive then perhaps the design has already failed.
The vertical alignment of the text is off and the colors are a bit muddy compared to the vibrant palette of http://designmodo.com/flat-free/ (which was clearly the inspiration for this).