The web is an incredibly fast-moving place when it comes to design and style trends.
Only a couple of years ago the majority of sites were either intricately programmed Flash sites complete with custom interactivity or conversely something more functional and minimal, like Yahoo, Amazon and so on. Arguably the web is now driven more by rapid information flow rather than heavily styled user experiences, but nevertheless users are still very sensitive to interface 'polish', and getting the right level of styling can make or break a site.