I'd disgree with his conclusions. If the blog is doing well & making money then a unique template might be worth a few hundred dollars.
But it's the unique content that makes a blog truely monetized. Some of my favourite blogs use free (or even default) templates with simply a custom banner to identify it. And they do a lot better than some flashy customised blogs....
"But it's the unique content that makes a blog truely monetized."
Yes that's true, tuts network is paying $150 per blog post to show unique and good content, but i talk about setting up a blog only (template design + setup)
"No template is worth $1000...."
I have no idea if it some templates reach $1,000 may be the blogger (jggube) was talking about blogs like Smashing Magazine, nettuts...
But it's the unique content that makes a blog truely monetized. Some of my favourite blogs use free (or even default) templates with simply a custom banner to identify it. And they do a lot better than some flashy customised blogs....
No template is worth $1000....