Not only are you right, but Google realized you're right. They've removed some of the overdone animations--tap on some of the buttons on iOS Hangouts and you'll

Not only are you right, but Google realized you're right. They've removed some of the overdone animations--tap on some of the buttons on iOS Hangouts and you'll see. And the color blocks aren't quite as searing anymore (didn't the original version of the spec call for FABs in a contrasting accent color, like bright yellow?). I view the YouTube iOS app as a good example of the direction Material Design is headed; it's even dropped the hamburger menu, which was a big part of the original spec.