Are you ready for the next stage of commoditization of web design?

I seriously doubt people are going to start losing web design jobs simply because of cheap themes. Cheap themes have been around since the internet turned commercial and yet there are still web design jobs.

Cheap themes serve a specific market, cheap people. The same market exists in every creatively based market such as video, print, 3D models, etc. I don't see those jobs going away.

Web design jobs will not disappear because there actually is a market out there that does not want cheap themes. This market wants a customized site that suits their needs and the needs of their own market. This market will want a website that is custom to them that their competition simply cannot buy from a cheap theme market. This market understands the idea of "you get what you pay for".

I await the next story that claims X will die soon because of Y even though X has been doing just fine with years of Y already in place. I'm accustomed to these kinds of stories, I'm a PC gamer and I've been told every three-to-five years (conveniently this is typical console lifespan) that my hobby is dying even though I've been doing it for over twenty years with no intention of stopping any time soon.

The author touches upon the evolution of the industry and then makes strong claims towards stagnation. Perhaps it's the ebb and flow of innovation and commoditization rather than exclusively the latter? This cyclical occurrence is common across almost all industries -- a trend will eventually reach a saturation point until something new comes along, breeding a culture of forward-thinkers and followers.