I like your popular tags better. Twitter went away from "tell us what your doing" - to a more - "share what is happening anywhere in the world" - I think they and everyone is tired of "Froot loops were great this morning, now in I-40
Still, the whole point of the service is to broadcast "you" to the world. That is, what's happening around you, affecting you etc.
To that regard, I think this guy's redesign conveys that message better to someone who has no idea what twitter is. People who already have a twitter account will almost never see this page. Thus, it should be focused entirely on acquiring new users.
Then, what is Twitter without status updates? I don't see how they can "get away from them". An Iranian at a rally is just as much "updating their status" as they 35 year old who hasn't left their basement all day.
