I think there is also some value to websites looking the same. Pick two native apps on the same platform, they will probably look the same, and users of that pl

I think there is also some value to websites looking the same. Pick two native apps on the same platform, they will probably look the same, and users of that platform know how to use all of the standard controls and know the standard places to look for common actions. This is much less true of the web. So even if some design trend isn't really much of an improvement there may be some value to following it anyway rather than forcing people to learn a unique design on every website.