I'm listening to this podcast with John Gruber and his friend, and it seems like they will lose 10% (maybe a little less), if they are left out of their smart case for 24 hours. That is acceptable to me. Not as good as an iPad or MacBook, but still good to the point it won't be annoying considering I will use them every day. I was just concerned I'd pick them up and half of the time they would be out of battery, but it doesn't seem like that will be the case.
I don't love the design either, but I don't find it awful either. They are slightly odd looking - perhaps "unique" if you want a kinder adjective - but I do not find them unattractive to the point it would deter me from using using them. Maybe they are something that looks better in person ? we'll see. They are at least less deep and protrude from the head less than other headphones, which I guess could be considered a win on the aesthetics front.
What I do really like the look of it the removable fabric ear pads and the metal smooth telescoping head adjustment. I'm glad they went with the Digital Crown dial for volume adjustment than the long rumoured touch interface. I really don't fancy the idea of touch based controls...
As for the stock situation, it's rumoured they had very limited quantity availability. It is really hard to believe that many people are prepared to spend $549 on headphones right now. But hey, they sell 200m plus 1000 dollar iPhones every year, so who knows.