True, but sometimes the UI does not need innovation. iOS had problems where they suddenly made a button look like text and nobody could tell what was a button, and what was text. It didn't need innovation - it wasn't broken.
In the case of custom GUI elements sometimes things don't need fixing. The audio industry always makes control panels etc. look different to the common UI and this is one area you still see it.
But for the most part, having a consistent UI means the system is easier to use. I wouldn't want my fork mutating every time I had a different meal, in the interests of innovation.
"I wouldn't want my fork mutating every time I had a different meal, in the interests of innovation."
The meal is a good analogy. For prolonged activity a local minima of utility that is 'good enough' can be achieved. This would correspond with a single app.
The fork, however, is not necessarily the best tool for 3D modeling, composing music or some new entirely new activity.
In this instance though, the fork is the method by which you interact with the food. In GUIs, the GUI elements are the ways you interact with the underlying concepts in the program (the food).
The fork is basically a GUI element, eg. a button.
Buttons appearing to be anything but buttons is as useful as a fork being shaped like a playing card - it isn't useful at all, and I could not easily shovel food into my fat face with aplomb.
I am not saying that custom GUI controls/widgets shouldn't be invented where needed, just that the basics being reinvented just for the sake of reinvention is unnecessary, and confusing.
In the case of custom GUI elements sometimes things don't need fixing. The audio industry always makes control panels etc. look different to the common UI and this is one area you still see it.
But for the most part, having a consistent UI means the system is easier to use. I wouldn't want my fork mutating every time I had a different meal, in the interests of innovation.