I think a vertical tower might not be very practical for some Television cabinets. With Smart TVs getting bigger not everyone got space at the top. Hopefilly alternative positions can be used, like happened with other past consoles that could be used horizontal or vertical.
That said, I am here for the games, so I don't really care that much if the shape is too appealing or not, so long it works well and the ports make sense and won't cause problems for the console or ourselves, I am happy. I just don't want it to be difficult to connect stuff and that it runs smoothly.
I think that having a bigger console in exchange of proper back compatibility is more than fine if it means that will work without shortening the life of the console unnecessarily. It'll help clear space and give use to the games I got and might want to get from past consoles.