I think diffusion is a design issue. without a reflector, they will radiate 180 degrees or close to that. A lot of what I have seen are designed like spotlights: not the best for a floor lamp.
I have not looked at the spectral output of what is in the market, but I personally do not like the yellow incandescent look (somewhere around 3500K). I prefer something closer to sunlight (6500K).
A good LED has a useable life approaching 50,000 hours. That's around 17 years at 8 hours per day, or a lifetime for 4 or 5 hours.
To me, it is as much about the resources used as it is about energy savings. CF are dirty. They last around 3 years and have a high content of rare earth metals. LED has a much higher life and much lower rare earth content (as far as I know anyway).
1 LED = 6 CF = 34+ Incandescent (I figure at least two incandescent per year unless you go hospital grade)
