Since the sleek design of the iPhone (News - Alert), iPod, iPod Touch, iWhatever consumers are going to their local electronics store and saying, “Why can’t I find a router that matches my décor?”

 

"Routers are awful; they're ugly," said Kai-wei Hsu, a 31-year-old furniture designer. "With a lot of things, you don't always get to choose."

 

Although, most designers agree that the technology should not be hindered by new designs or artistic looks.

 

"If something's clunky, doesn't have fluid lines, then I think it's probably the same inside as well," he said.

 

Reuters (News - Alert) reports that many agree the iPhone is a prime example of good design in consumer electronics.

 

"It's really good technology, and has everything in it. It doesn't look like a gadget so much. It's something that's elegant and part fashion," said John Kudos, a 29 year-old graphic designer.

 

Kudos says he has noticed that computers and television sets have become sleeker over the years, and he's happy with the compact look of his external hard drive, My Book by Western Digital Corp. (News - Alert)

 

"It's like a book sitting on the desk, and it blends in with the bookcase. That's nice: technology that disappears," he said.

 

The Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum recently awarded its annual "People's Design Award" to Zon, a hearing aid developed by industrial design studio Stuart Karten Design. Zon looks more like jewelry than a medical device -- one which many are reluctant to use because of concerns about stigma and appearance.

 

"The success of Zon demonstrates that good design can indeed have a transformative impact on our everyday lives," Cooper-Hewitt director Paul Warwick Thompson said in a statement.