That's too bad that opinions differ that much. I really don't like the wooden plate anyway (although I do like why it is optimal: it's thinner than the thinnest plastic wall), so I wouldn't mind if there were holes in it.

However, 0.9 mm, in addition to the 0.5 mm already shaved with the new magnets, is not negligible at all. I have a tohkbd1, I know how bulky it is and how much that bulkiness changes in awkwardness when you use it in front of people. Gaining 1.4 mm in thickness on a design already thinner than tohkb1, that would do a lot in "usability" of that keyboard. Being observed by people with awkward looks was one of the two main reasons why I didn't use tohkbd1.

Nothing says magnets would be ugly. It would just look like two metal parts that could be part of the chassis. Some people will find it nice, some will find it okayish, and some will find it ugly. Fair enough, but that's still an improvement in the design in my opinion, even though I admit the Kickstarter campaign was based on another prototype (which was still advertized as a prototype though).

For people in the latter category, magnets can be painted in black, or even better, covered by a 0.9 mm metal backplate the size of the keyboard for a full metal back, or covered by a glued 0.75 mm lastucase plate the size of the keyboard. Everybody would be happy and even those wanting a full lastucase backplate would shave 0.15 mm.