I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I do find it ironic that we have a totally different take on one aspect of the new OS X.
I find the new look a lot more serious and less playful. The change back to a 2d dock in particular makes the whole OS look and feel much more professional to me. I previously, had to find a program that changed the dock to 2d since I have always found the 3d dock too distracting.
Also, in making everything flat, including the buttons, they have removed the last traces of the “candy” look from previous versions of OS X.
Interesting — to me it looks more “cartoon-y”.
Do the app buttons on dock still magnify?