Thanks for this inspirational article! However, I got the feeling that one important factor was overlooked: Years ago the cognitive load of each individual wasn't as high as it is today, therefor interfaces were allowed to be more unique in UX & UI. It's understandable that we imitate designs and use similar patterns, so that the user doesn't need to think too much and finds apps more intuitive as they recognize patterns.

But I do think that imitating other software is harmful in the sense of being innovative. And it's sad that it mutes our creativity. It's needed to challenge these familiar patterns once in a while or get some Junior Designer asking the "Why are we doing it this way?" question. Smaller deviations in patterns are less distracting and can still have a big impact.