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This is a great article, even though the advice it provides will not work well in every situation. Unfortunately, as the comments here indicate, it's difficult to appreciate unless you've gotten your hands dirty. Many of the complicated features of XML Schema LOOK manageable in the abstract, or when dealing with toy examples, but when you actually try designing a real modular, extensible system of multiple schemas, you begin to see what Mr. Kawaguchi is talking about.
XML schema has tried to provide everything that both markup languages and object-oriented systems can offer, and whether it is roughness of first attempt or the inherent complexity of this task, it is widely held to be confusing and difficult to use. The poor state of implementations several years after Recommendation status speaks to this aptly. It is well worth taking a look at an alternative, Relax-NG, which strives to maintain an elegant, spare framework will providing the same expressive power. It has some of its own problems, but generally does better than schema in the usability department.
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