Aesthetics can be very important because attractive things work better: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/202165712_Emotion_Design_Attractive_Things_Wor

Aesthetics can be very important because attractive things work better: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/202165712_Emotion_Design_Attractive_Things_Work_Better https://www.researchgate.net/publication/202165712_Emotion_D... Apple could have found a way to put the button somewhere else and make it nearly invisible, but that's expensive and the Mac mini is clearly designed with cost in mind. If you want cheap and functional, you're in luck because that's pretty much all anybody makes.