I personally don't find multiple home screen useful at all. I don't use widgets because they don't offer anything I need, or not in the way I'd like. all I need is the date, time, battery and weather.....all of which are easily located at the top. my weather automatically is listed in the notification bar at all times, and I can tap it for more detailed info if needed.
as for apps, if I want to use them I either keep them on one desktop with icons, or click the apps button to browse through them and pick the one I want.
this to me, is far more efficient than multiple home screens.
just count the number of actions it takes to do something.
for example, you have to swipe between desktops, 1-2 swipes on either side. 4 swipes from one side to the other, and possibly add a tap or two to access applications on those other screens.
now count the number of actions it takes with just one home screen with icons or accessing the apps listing. it takes LESS actions to do what you need in general this way.
so ultimately, multiple home screens take more physical actions to access something than just using one home screen.
most widgets to me are useless, I'd just rather open the whole app. for example, pulse news app's widget is tiny and not very informative and limited. I'd rather just open the whole app and browse.
what we really need is the ability to assign an app to take up an entire home screen, or be more customizable than they are. there are very few app widgets that match the size of even the stock magazine widget, which is probably the only acceptable minimal size for most apps, functionally speaking.