This reminds me of a segment in the movie Objectified where they interview Bill Moggridge, the guy who designed the GRiD Compass (the first laptop). He talks about his choice to use magnesium for the enclosure and how he liked the fact that the laptop would gain character as it accumulated little nicks and scratches, exposing the magnesium. I have to agree with him. In a way, it actually makes a product feel more durable because you can see it's withstood some wear and tear. In fact, it's the same reason why people like vintage furniture.
It's also a major theme in the Steve Jobs biography that Steve was obsessed with this kind of aging in objects (evident, e.g., in his preference for faded blue jeans), and wanted the products he built to acquire character by scuffing, etc. (Not, of course, by actually degrading performance such as broken screens or cracks in the casing).
You may disagree with this philosophy, but the lazy refrain of "this wouldn't have happened if Steve still was around" is particularly clueless for this issue.
You can see the clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHEA-jbo1aI