As a "vertical screen space nazi" I surely sympathize with the proposal. I always try to customize my software to use as little toolbar space as possible, maximizing the actual content space.
However, suitable alternatives would have to be found for common usage patterns associated with the location bar, in particular I can think of the following:
1. Properly displaying your location relative to the structure of a website.
2. Verifying the security and validity of an address you are visiting.
3. Typing new addresses and search queries.
4. Copying and sharing the location you are in.
I can think of a few UI alternatives for each of those use cases and the article presents some others, many would require a pretty big change on the way we do things on the Web.
However, suitable alternatives would have to be found for common usage patterns associated with the location bar, in particular I can think of the following:
1. Properly displaying your location relative to the structure of a website.
2. Verifying the security and validity of an address you are visiting.
3. Typing new addresses and search queries.
4. Copying and sharing the location you are in.
I can think of a few UI alternatives for each of those use cases and the article presents some others, many would require a pretty big change on the way we do things on the Web.