Even when things weren't consistent, they were 'readable' and you could understand what a control was offering.

I wonder if our current state is a consequence of the 'iteration' of skeuomorphism, where a few decades ago computer UI controls were representations of what people would have been familiar with before - physical buttons on machines or concepts like files in folders, more recently the feedback loop is abstract controls being the input for the next iteration. How many objects in the world that you use in a week give a good template to inspire designers?

Not necessarily, look up "mystery meat navigation". The affliction that produced our current UI woes has existed almost as long as the WWW itself.