@PongPoku:
you have a point about the possibility that they combined both functions for design reasons. I hadn't thought of that. It's true that the amp looks very modern and minimalist... But I'd also prefer to have two controls. In matters of design, perhaps because the sense of sight is so persuasive, sometimes companies throw away the baby with the water, putting too much emphasis on form over function (an example that comes to mind is Apple removing the USB connector from their phones).
Also, sometimes, I'm convinced, both factors will concur: I'm sure sometimes they use the design as a way to get away with the cheapening measures, as a "pretty distraction". But that's probably more common in big companies than in this case.
Yet another possibility, perhaps, is that those who design the product don't really get to use it themselves enough, there's like a disconnect. This problem is common in the Linux world too, I think; an idea I had was to create some kind of contest in which programmers and designers of DAWs and other audio programs had to come up periodically with one song, done with their own software. I think if they went through the exercise, their priorities and their to-do list for upcoming versions would totally change.
I'm totally with you also in your comments about the need of a change in consciousness. I think that, from a different altitude, my comments about companies that are customer-oriented, were pointing in the same direction. Some companies that I admire have mission statements with things as candid as "bringing happiness to our customers", and they live by it, it's not wallpaper like unfortunately in many others...