I've read and reread more articles like this in the past few years than I care to count. It seems to be the most popular cause amongst amateur design-critics, and also has the added benefit of generating provocative article titles.

I don't think this sensibility is going to go away whilst it still has the power to make applications more appealing to mere mortals. The fact that the article uses a picture of the most inoffensive and relevant metaphor to date, the reel-to-reel tape player in the Podcast app, I believe reflects badly on the motivations of the article's author.