Perhaps it is just me, but I find this to be true since Morrowind. I think most quests reward you with items like shields, swords or light/heavy armor. I don't use any of this stuff with almost all of the characters I create. There aren't enough items like really powerful amulets or rings. Granted Morrowind and Oblivion had custom spell-making, but I think the whole series leans more towards sword and board than magic.

I was inspired to write this topic having just finished Peryite's quest (again). Lo and behold another shield as a reward, not a robe with 60% spell resistance, a staff which makes enemies disappear or something of that sort.

Spellbreaker is magic gear. It's absolutely delightful when Dragonslaying. If you need a Staff, wander about the Streets of Solitude until you find a crazy man.

I can see what you are saying, but I personally do not care what the item is. If it is good, I may use it. If not, I'll store it away. For Morrowind, I love the http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:The_Lady%27s_Ring, I used it for all my past Morrowind characters and my current one

My favorite non sword and board magic item in the entire series.

Skyrim is nord land. Magic isnt much liked by most nords. Maybe bethesda thought "we'll make magic [censored] since most nord dont like it."

Radiant Story was supposed to "Fix" this issue, but before I go further, I'll point something out.

That Shield is an Artifact, and a static reward, so we can ignore that as an example.

For the rest, there's a terrible lack of enchanted clothing in Skyrim, moreover a borderline depressing lack of variety. With the "one enchantment" limit (With extremely rare exceptions) we're kind of stuck with generic items that lack personality. It's true that Enchanting is probably more useful than it's ever been, but that can also work against it, as you create four pieces of gear with +50% Two-handed damage and cleave everything in the game with one hit.

It's something I hope they take consideration of for the next entry of The Elder Scrolls. It's true, too much variety can become overwhelming and redundant, but as a general rule, some redundancy is better than no variety.

All the more reason to get your enchanting level to 100, make your own mage items. Thats what I do. I wear what I can find that'll get me by until I'm able to craft my own.