This whole topic was so fun to read that I grabbed my popcorn.
Armoured mobs are too hard for me. Imagine encountering a full golden or diamond armour zombie with a wooden sword in your hand on the first night. Yeah, that would be fun. But thats a no for me.
Beacon blocks(Or ability totems, whatever.) Is actually quite a good idea. For adventure maps and pvp, of course. Since the block was not obtainable in survival mode.
And no. jeb isn't going to far. These updates adds more fun to the game while maintaining it's simplicity. Finding this too complex? Well, get someone to set up a beacon for you. And it's done.
Conclusion- I liked the latest update, and everything Notch and Jeb has done to Minecraft. But armoured mobs, just no.
And remember'^^^=Opinion.