I think part of the issue with the lack of quality design with the new Panasonic is that they are trying to bridge the gap between professionals and consumers, often known as "prosumer." Clearly Panasonic knows how to meet the demands of compentent professionals, see the Varicam. But I think these new, smaller cameras are meant to be sold to people who want a "professional" look on a consumer budget. And because the camera is meant to be sold to consumers they won't add all the bells and whistles you might find on a professional rig. That way people will buy the camera, use it, find its flaws, and then have to buy the next generation camera that promises to allievate those prior flaws. (A perfect example is Canon's GL and XL series) There is a similar paradigm with editing systems. They sell reduced or limited versions that are missing just enough capabilities as to make them usless to the consumate professional, but ideal for Dads putting home movies on DVD. Students are especially targeted because we want professional quality at a reduced cost. We buy Avid LE becuase we know the qualities of Avid, only to discover we can't color correct or undo more than a few actions with the LE version. I think these Panasonics are designed around the same ideas. If they sell us the pefect camera, why would we buy another?