If actually cubase, cakewalk and reason make
hardware-like interfaces,
it's because their users want it.
What about the people who aren't cubase, cakewalk and reason users? There are
more of them.
Just because an interface doesn't emulate legacy hardware doesn't mean it has
to be cluttered. I found Reason to be very cluttered on an iMac with a 15"
display.
Cheers
Daniel