While I'm sort of rephrasing what DrewADesign said, I think, it's not a matter of "form over function" as much as the difference between a UI designed around th

While I'm sort of rephrasing what DrewADesign said, I think, it's not a matter of "form over function" as much as the difference between a UI designed around the tasks to be done versus one designed around the underlying data/function models. The latter can be very "functional," but that doesn't necessarily make it a good interface. Calibre's UI isn't illogical or nonsensical, and it can do everything you probably want when it comes to managing an ebook library, converting between book formats, and taking files and off ebook readers. But it doesn't feel like anyone involved with the UI design ever really thought about it from the perspective of "how do I make the common tasks easy" rather than "how do I ensure all the functionality is exposed".