If you look back a bit in history a chamois was never really intended to be padding... it was just as it sounds, a piece of chamios leather. It was more intended to provide a soft, seamless area so that you weren't being rubbed. Some of the new fat, padded chamios that are put in shorts these days can be just as bad as a fat over stuffed, squashy saddle... and as we all know minimal saddles are not necessarily uncomfortable, while padded ones aren't necessarily good. Same thing can go for shorts. A well designed minimal chamois can be a lot more comfortable than a big old diaper like pad.