[yoz-y]

I think they are objectively easier to use. Since they came along during the era when people were getting accustomed to computer interfaces, everything had to have a lot of affordances. Hence buttons that look like actual buttons and so on. Since now everybody (probably) knows that you can click on stuff the visual appeal was put ahead.

Still, at least in iOS there is some backpedaling on the general whiteness and borderlessness. I suppose this is because while people are accustomed and borderless stuff looks nicer, the interface is harder and slower to use.

[digi_owl]

Funny thing is the current trends in UI is actually being pushed by people claiming it is more friendly and "intuitive"...

[paulryanrogers]

There is definitely a limit to how abstract and minimalist a UI can be. After months I just recently realized Outlook web' s rules creator accepts a raw email address (without selecting a contact) by clicking the _empty_ white space to the right of the ellipsis. There are no borders, no color change, nothing to indicate a free form text input.

EDIT: forgot to add context