TA is like the weather: very easy to say why something happened AFTER the fact; almost impossible to predict the future reliably.
I do use it, but it can be very ambiguous and is extremely open to interpretation. The more short-term you look, the more inaccurate it is (it's pretty good over the long-run i.e. more than a year).
Too many people follow TA religiously. If you see someone tell you that "Wave 5 will hit support at $6324.55" then run - they believe TA too much!
Right, if somebody tells me something is because of this or that pattern, I'd want to know what caused the pattern. If they can't say, I'd be very leery of trusting them as a good analyst.
Good point, it's a mix of the two. Understanding fundamentals helps to interpret TA.