Sure these things make it easier to whip up themes but what kind of themes are wipped up? Thesis, Headway, Elastic. In the end the design look exactly the same. Bloggish or magazinish. 1 box there 2 boxes there. Id say these things makes it easier to make a layout, but a layout aint a design. Its the images, the typography etc that really makes a difference and its also what takes the most time.