> Design was important enough to you to post your own comment talking about it and your own preferences, and how important it is to competition, so why are you questioning it's importance to someone else?

I think you might be conflating design and cosmetics.

Design is objective, cosmetics is subjective. I like good design even if I don't care much for cosmetics.

Read "The Design of Everyday Things" , Donald E. Norman. This book is routinely recommended here, with good reason.