It's inconsistent with the entire OS. Having 7 or 8 apps look completely different is inconsistent and jarring when you shift from app to app. And the linen was just plain fugly.
We live in an age where flatter, more consistent UI designs are a necessity. Not flat to the point where you can't tell what the hell is going on, like Metro, but minimalist with visual cues to let you know what is happening, which is similar to Google's interface for Android and their web services.
We don't need to be reminded that games used to be played in casinos. We don't need to be reminded of how a ledger notepad with leather binding looks. We don't need to be reminded of how a bookshelf looks.
Why?
Because we don't use bookshelfs, game tables, or ledger pads on our phones.
We use digital representations of games, text, and input devices. The need to have an analog analogue is gone. And apart from the horrid icons in iOS 7, it's a step forward in every way. Except, of course, for the icons.
> We live in an age where flatter, more consistent UI designs are a necessity.
There's probably some specific scope of "necessity" which would make this something other than fairly extreme hyperbole, but its certainly not one which it is obvious is the intended scope of this posting.
Now, I would agree that I like fairly flat design, and I actively dislike skeuomorphism for the sake of skeuomorphism, since it tends to add visual clutter that doesn't contribute to (and often impairs) usability.
But that's a preference (there are people that like baroque UIs, and that's not objectively wrong), not a necessity.
> Having 7 or 8 apps look completely different is inconsistent and jarring when you shift from app to app.
Which also meant that apps were actually distinguishable at a glance. You could be the slowest user ever and it was hard to miss that "yellow with lines across the page" meant Notes - on OS X, iOS and iCloud.com. There was zero disconnect between the icon and the actual app. Same for Reminders and GameCenter. iOS7 doesn't bother to develop a "mini-brand" for each app - the 'link colour' in each app is different but there aren't even enough colours for the stock apps.
Of course this branding in iOS6 could have been pulled of with fewer textures and shadows :)
We live in an age where flatter, more consistent UI designs are a necessity. Not flat to the point where you can't tell what the hell is going on, like Metro, but minimalist with visual cues to let you know what is happening, which is similar to Google's interface for Android and their web services.
We don't need to be reminded that games used to be played in casinos. We don't need to be reminded of how a ledger notepad with leather binding looks. We don't need to be reminded of how a bookshelf looks.
Why?
Because we don't use bookshelfs, game tables, or ledger pads on our phones.
We use digital representations of games, text, and input devices. The need to have an analog analogue is gone. And apart from the horrid icons in iOS 7, it's a step forward in every way. Except, of course, for the icons.
Did I mention the icons were awful?