Small quads generally do remarkably little damage to themselves in most typical crashes. Remember this thing only weighs 102g, and half of that is a battery held on by springs.

In typical indoor use (can't get more than a few meters high, unlikely to go faster than a few m/s), this'll crash way more than one time before it show any signs of damage to anything except the (replaceable) props. (Sure, you won't be handing it down to your grandkids in your will, but it's not as disposable as "fly once, crash, throw it away"...)

I totally agree with you, it's the most compressed form, in a slim electronics layer, for the most lightweight design. Every grams are used for the best selected components, assembled with passion and fully supported by Ardupilot firmware.