One thing that always bothered me is the navigation 37signals tend to use. It's stuck at the very top of the page and is set in a very small font size. Current locations are also not highlighted on some pages. Perhaps they don't rely on it at all and instead focus on getting people to click on calls to action inside the content.
I expect a website to do one, maybe two things well. I'm a hard sell on three. The middle doesn't do much for me. It's a content stack and I have to _study_ it to glean meaning. Buzz, about, client vids, etc. My gut says this is filler. Now given the last few days with Google's data/design approach, I'd love to see a heatmap and numbers. :)
For me personally, this semi-clutter speaks against their products and the company's focus on simplicity. I'd have preferred a more minimal approach that allows each element to breathe a little more.
Its how much damn text they have on there. Too much information being displayed with too much scrolling. Moving the left column over to its own page would make me like the site much more.
I really hope this isn't the next trend in website styles.