The criticism of Apple's USB drive was insightful, and showed a definite flaw in the design of the unit. However, these two examples are just petty. First, any time you need your serial number you will be told how to get it, and clicking Apple -> About This Mac -> More Info is not an exceptional amount of work. Compare this with what you have to do on Windows:
Also, though this is not obvious when the unit is purchased, the serial number is etched into the bottom of the casing, not painted as the rest of the text is. I only discovered this when the rest of the text rubbed off of my MacBook Pro. This means that it can't be printed in a different color, but I'd rather have the permanence of etching over paint that can be scratched off.
Finally, the USB extension cable cannot be bought alone - it only ships with an Apple keyboard. It's been designed for the electrical requirements of the keyboard and not all USB devices, so it's understandable that Apple limits its use to the device it's manufactured for.
The problem with the non-standard connector is this isn't an Apple defined standard. This is USB. And the problem with this design is I can use a non-Apple cable to extend the keyboard (because the keyboard has a USB plug on it), but I can't use the extender for something else (e.g. even an Apple mouse!).
The point with the cable is that extension cables aren't allowed by the USB standard, so Apple created a cable that would only work with their specific device for which they guarantee that it works. I've tried the extension cable with other devices (it works just fine if you insert the plug at an angle), and have had mixed results.
I think Apple did exactly the right thing here and did it to avoid other problems ("I plugged in my iPad through the extension cable to my macbook and now it won't charge").
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/558124
Also, though this is not obvious when the unit is purchased, the serial number is etched into the bottom of the casing, not painted as the rest of the text is. I only discovered this when the rest of the text rubbed off of my MacBook Pro. This means that it can't be printed in a different color, but I'd rather have the permanence of etching over paint that can be scratched off.
Finally, the USB extension cable cannot be bought alone - it only ships with an Apple keyboard. It's been designed for the electrical requirements of the keyboard and not all USB devices, so it's understandable that Apple limits its use to the device it's manufactured for.