Tldr; argues that skeumorphism has its place, when used appropriately to immediately get across the purpose of the app.

That also accurately describes the importance of visual design overall, not just this one particular flavor of realistic-looking interfaces. It's what helps a product instantly "impute" what it's for, for those that read the Jobs book.

Straightforward UX will only get you so far and if functionality were the only thing people cared about, we'd all be driving Volvos and Ferrari would be out of business.