I've been recording for 40 years, and I think the style dials are nice.  for something really quick to make rough mixes or hear what that type of effect might sound like in a mix...without all the setting up of stuff. 
Seems no one complained when Waves L1 first came out.  In fact I think it was the opposite.
Any rate...try the space dial on a stereo drum mix.  I haven't heard something that good, quick and easy...for free.

"As far as how things "look"? Who gives a fart?"
Those of us that feel it could have been done better.  Us.  We're the ones giving a fart!

Ya know...totally subjective....but wonder how these would be perceived if they had a GUI like Boz Digital Lab stuff...or even the Panu Sonar screen mods.  A nice, 3D looking slider on some sexy black metal plating...

Yes... why Sonar is not using 3D mode, rendering knobs in real time taking current light conditions in the room captured by the WebCam into account? May be because colling 400W gaming graphic card in recording room is hard to achieve without noise and all that is completely irrelevant for produced sound?

mixmkr
Ya know...totally subjective....but wonder how these would be perceived if they had a GUI like Boz Digital Lab stuff...or even the Panu Sonar screen mods.  A nice, 3D looking slider on some sexy black metal plating...

I think they would be perceived, received a lot better presented like you say. As it is now they look like something from the 'Sonar Platinum Teletubbies Edition'. They just don't fit, they are way out of place. I had ever only seen pic's of them up until now and that was bad enough, they look much worse first hand.
 
It's all well and good to say that looks are not the most important thing, or shouldn't be, and that's right, but lets face it it does matter. A lot of people say that Reaper looks bad, so take that for example or perhaps something that looks even worse, the worst look for a DAW you can imagine, now slip into that alternate reality where Sonar actually does look like that, I think those that push the looks don't matter line would soon change their tune

I totally get why someone would want to use a one button effect. Once you get used to the sound they create, it's a very, very quick way to get a sound you're after. To create a scratch track for a yourself, client, a producer or even a mastering engineer, you don't have to fiddle with dozens of knobs and buttons to get the sound you want. It's right there, one step, and very easy to dial in (Much like a preset on any other effect). There are going to be users that will say they never use presets and create every sound in their FX from scratch. That's ok too, but there is always going to times when you just want to dial in a quick and easy effect.
As to the look of the knobs themselves, I find the graphic on the knob, and the name of each, easy to read and understand. I don't think it detracts at all from the sense that Sonar is a quality DAW.
I too have wondered why Cakewalk would want to put in what essentially amounts to a second, propriety FX bin. I do however find myself using it in preference to the standard FX bin, as the graphics and ease of use make it so much simpler to use than just about any other DAW's implementation of an FX bin.