The tone of Gary Wolf's article in Wired pisses me off quite a bit. He seems to be writing from the perspective of someone frustrated by Craigslist, and certainly, there are things about Craigslist that frustrates its users. But I would suspect that all those Craigslist users who are frustrated with Craigslist, their frustrations are not impediments to use. There are things about Craigslist that frustrate me for sure, but it doesn't stop me in the least from using it, both for finding stuff, and getting rid of stuff. I've been far more successful than not with Craigslist, so I have to wonder about why Wired and Gary Wolf are so damn pissy.
As a Web designer, I marvel at the success of a site that is so visually unappealing. But it succeeds in the area that has frustrated so many Web designers, and that is UX (User Experience). Craigslist simply works because it is so simple. Ultimately, in Web design, the one thing that matters more than anything else is usability. This is where Craigslist excels like few other sites on the Web.
If you are one of the few who needs shiny graphics and Ajax widgets to hold your hand and soften your online experience, then there's probably some other online classified sites you can pay to use. I for one appreciate the simplicity of Craigslist, and take the bad with the good. Craigslist dominates Amazon and EBay in traffic for one simple reason: It's simply works.
For added giggles, check out Wired's picks for Craigslist makeovers by "leading" designers. Puh-leeeez! (*Though I do kinda like the "Make It Simple" design)