This is true. I was a senior developer at Apple for a decade, and if you think they follow some rigorous UI-vetting process (or even user testing in many cases)

This is true. I was a senior developer at Apple for a decade, and if you think they follow some rigorous UI-vetting process (or even user testing in many cases), you’re wrong. There are probably exceptions, but it’s not a company-wide norm. I also think the fashion theory is wrong. In fact, it’s backward. Younger users didn’t demand these regressions; they’re simply more used to lazy, shitty design and the absence of the visual cues and standards that made GUIs so intuitive in the first place. So, for example, they are more likely to tap or click on a plain text label to see if it’s a control than those of us who expect controls to be demarcated as such. But once those regressions become the norm, the better designs are indeed recognizable as “older.” Thus we all suffer a decline in design quality. Windows is now an unmitigated UI shítshow. Fortunately we’re finally seeing some backlash against “flat” (AKA no) design.