Having seen far too many questions on sites about software design where someone starts out with "How do I use a Factory to solve...", I would contend that the GoF had far too much influence and missed the designer's original goals.
> Trying to use all the patterns is a bad thing, because you will end up with synthetic designs—speculative designs that have flexibility that no one needs. These days software is too complex. We can't afford to speculate what else it should do. We need to really focus on what it needs. That's why I like refactoring to patterns. People should learn that when they have a particular kind of problem or code smell, as people call it these days, they can go to their patterns toolbox to find a solution.
From an interview with Erich Gamma ( http://www.artima.com/lejava/articles/gammadp.html )