Geoff, My mom's 1958 Lady Kenmore explained why the woolens setting was on the normal cycle. The settings gave warm/warm, slow agitation and fast spin. The warm wash and rinse was so that a temperature shock would not cause the wool to "draw up"; think anatomy and cold versus warm water. The fast spin was to spin out the great amount of water that wool and many similar knits hold. Many deluxe machines with programmed cycles like the GE washers from 1958 on, combined those settings in their cycle "5" for woolens. Frigidaire used it in their "Special" cycle a year later.
One thing I do not like about my KA 760 is the tall agitator. Mine has no electric dispensers like yours (sorry for assuming it was a Catalyst when I saw those dispensers. So much happens in 15 years.) The fabric softener dispenser sits in the top of my turquoise agitator. It gets in the way when loading and unloading so I just keep it out. I don't care for the tall agitator in my 806 either, so it's not just the KitchenAid.
I, too, long for the days when control panels, at least on TOL models, had some styling, but I think we are beyond that. Most people do not care how the laundry appliances look, don't like using them and don't need any extra light to read the panels since most don't care. Once they get it set for cold wash and rinse, the rest does not matter. The makers of appliances know this. And they probably know that in most households, hired help and /or often unwilling children are doing a lot of the laundry so it's not a situation where the proud owner is going to be looking at a beautifully styled wonderful washer, so crank them out as cheaply as possible. Don't waste money on good industrial designers for bringing flair to the control panel. All the users care about is getting the load stuffed in, starting it and getting back to something that they enjoy or at least dislike less.
