Wow. I so thoroughly disagree with this quote. So would Aristotle.

We need both beauty and goodness, and we need them both in spades.

I think he meant... let's worry a little more about the human side than the pretty side; when you can find the beauty of a home cooked meal, who cares if it doesn't blind you with a technicolor light show. It might even help one appreciate many other beautiful things.

To use a little less metaphor, the functionality matters as much as the design. Good functionality = good design.

I personally think that when the outside is attractive I am much more enticed to find out more about what it does. Philippe Starck knows that as well, if not better than anyone. He is a successful business person who knows how to market himself and his designs. This is an interesting twist for him. One can make compromises of the "goodness" of things in order to make them beautiful. For instance, my white beautiful Macbook computer. It does not have all of the "goodness" or features of other similar devices, but the "beauty" makes up for its shortcomings.