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While on the surface, many different web sites don't seem to be consistent with one-another, they ARE consistent in some very critical areas. First, you have the basic things like links and web forms, and the browser itself is a constant that guides the user and restricts the design of the web pages. But also most good web sites, intentionally or not, do a very good job of "putting knowledge into the world."

Two of the main principles espoused by Norman are consistency and knowledge in the world. If you have at least one, you're in good shape, better if you have both.

I agree completely. Looking at the web sites I use regularly, on the whole they are quite consistent.

For example, most of my favourite online forums use very similar toolbars and tags, similar controls for replying and posting new messages, similar controls for displaying/collapsing threads, etc. When I meet one that's inconsistent it's significantly less pleasant to use.

Looking at the online stores that I return to regularly, they are fairly consistent when it comes to important things like searching for items and sorting results. Less consistent sites, at least the ones that aren't highly intuitive, are less likely to see me as a return visitor.

As you point out, a lot of consistency is provided by the browser itself. Things like the handling of links, moving between form fields, selecting from lists, and the use of many other web page features depend on the browser, rather than the design of the particular site. Then of course there are the menus and keyboard shortcuts that remain consistent between pages, and to a large extent between browsers.

I wonder how the people who dismiss the importance of consistency would cope if their browser's keyboard shortcuts were redefined and menus were reorganised?

I remember that so many people who tried Opera complained about having to press ctrl+n, rather than ctrl+t, to open a new page/tab, that the developers changed the default (despite the fact that users could redefine it themselves). It was an Opera 'flaw' that was mentioned in many reviews, at least those written by users of other tabbed browsers. Amazing how such a little inconsistency could be such a problem for a significant number of users.

I've notice that when it comes to complex, multi-step processes, many less-technical computers tend to just memorize their steps by rote.

It seems that the "holy grail" of computer usability is an interface where users never have to learn the specific quirks of an individual app - they just learn a set of basic principles once, and then apply them as needed. Of course, I don't think that's ever going to be entirely possible - for some types of complex tasks just require complex interfaces (otherwise there's a sacrifice of necessary functionality). But it's still a good ideal to aim for.