It is true that every design stands on the shoulders of giants, but there are limits beyond which it can be agreed that a designer has not sufficiently differentiated their creations.

The article reads a little disingenuous to me. Mostly it's just examining trends, but then ends with this "certainly we all agree that some of these similarities are beyond the pale."

Certainly we can not all agree; I'd prefer if Eli explicitly took the stand that he seems to be suggesting here instead of just dancing around it.