I can't believe that so many people are fixated on the Safari icon. The real abomination is that Settings icon!
Also, who cares about newsstand etc.. Most people them in a folder anyway!
I agree, the settings icon is terrible. It reminds me of a cross between the Darma logo from Lost and the Death Star. Both cool things, but have nothing to do with settings.
I don't mind the matte flat theme of the icons, but some of them are just confusing.
Everyone bashed skeuomorphism, and I agree than iOS6 had a bit too much of it, but skeuomorphism has a place and should still play a role in design. Icons by definition are meant to remind the user visually what they are a shortcut to. Thus, if the icon looks nothing like the function of what it brings up (or a logo of a brand), then it causes me to read the title under the icon line by line, thus defeating the purpose of the icon entirely.