Opera has done that for a while. You had to click in the URL box to see the full URL. I admit I'm not a fan either. I don't mind as long as advanced users can turn it off.

Safari seems to be heading the same way. It has definitely joined FF-- boo, hiss-- in leaving off the protocol.

If I read the article very, very slowly and carefully, will I understand how showing less information can enable the user to become more informed?

When I read the summary above, my first thought was "that makes no sense! How can hiding parts of the URL make phishing attacks MORE obvious?" After reading the article and seeing the examples, though, it does make some sense to me, but I still feel like there might be a better approach.

For example, just breaking up the protocol, host, and path into visually distinct blocks within the URL bar, with an emphasis on the host. That way, all of the information is still visible. Here's a very rough example of what I'd think that would look like:
[jsfiddle.net...]

(Note, this was just a quick POC, not what I would actaully expect it to look like)

Opera has done that for a while. You had to click in the URL box to see the full URL. I admit I'm not a fan either. I don't mind as long as advanced users can turn it off.

There's now an option in Opera to display the full URL (including protocol) all the time...
[webmasterworld.com...]

Ok, Thanks for the information!