It’s funny - there was a time when Apple had petty great hardware and woefully inadequate software (after Steve’s return, before Mac OS X was released). Now it seems they’ve switched to being the other way around.
My theory on Apple's design process with the MBP is they put all their efforts on the first 60 seconds with the product. The touchpad is the first thing you touch in a store, the bright colorful screen, and the very cool look the flat keyboard gives to the whole machine contribute a lot to the first impression.
The finger pains, the electric conductivity and heavy weight of the aluminium, the reflective screen, those are things you suffer from only once you've already bought the product.