I often feel the same, so I will try to give a serious answer:
Most web design today is driven by branding. Everyone seems to feel like they have to be express their uniqueness. This is awful and can widely be regarded as a bad move. I fully agree with you on that front.
On the other hand, the default browser styles are bad in their own way. Look at http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ for details. In practice, some degree of web design is necessary.
Also, you can create art and beauty on a computer. A well designed website can elevate the experience, just like a well designed book or chair.
Finally, HTML is limited in what it can do. JavaScript, CSS, and WAI-ARIA together form the low-level technologies to extend the web with new functionality. See https://extensiblewebmanifesto.org/ for details.
In summary, I would say that most web design is useless, but not all of it.
Most web design today is driven by branding. Everyone seems to feel like they have to be express their uniqueness. This is awful and can widely be regarded as a bad move. I fully agree with you on that front.
On the other hand, the default browser styles are bad in their own way. Look at http://bettermotherfuckingwebsite.com/ for details. In practice, some degree of web design is necessary.
Also, you can create art and beauty on a computer. A well designed website can elevate the experience, just like a well designed book or chair.
Finally, HTML is limited in what it can do. JavaScript, CSS, and WAI-ARIA together form the low-level technologies to extend the web with new functionality. See https://extensiblewebmanifesto.org/ for details.
In summary, I would say that most web design is useless, but not all of it.