[storborg]

While I'm not generally in the habit of defending Apple's decisions, I'd argue that all of those examples have tradeoffs that improve function. I don't necessarily agree with the tradeoff, but improvements to function do exist.

* The new style keyboard (with bezel between keys) is vastly more reliable for me. On the older keyboards, keys would come flying off all the time. I'd have to replace the keyboard every 8 months. My unibody macbook has lasted almost 2 years with no signs of wear.

* I can't comment on the reliability of the new ones, but I had an old iPod shuffle that was flaky as hell, especially when covered in sweat. Button clicks would get ignored or falsely triggered frequently.

* The Mighty Mouse is optimized for multitouch gestures, and having no seams on the top surface of the mouse makes that experience fantastic. Personally, not my style, but I see why they did it that way.

* The glossy screens have much better color and contrast than matte, and stay cleaner. Yes, glare is a problem in the sun, but I'm using an apple glossy LCD in an office right now and I can't find any angle or spot of the screen where there is even the slightest hint of glare.