Sony's new flash hotshoe design WORST design I have ever seen in a flash

I'll have to agree with the OP. The contacts remind me of a HP PDA that I had. The gold contacts on the PDA were wider and made of a gold alloy, which were easily bend, and sure enough, when I attached a cable slightly wrong, I bend a contact. I tried to bend the contact back into position, but it wouldn't stay in place, and eventually the contact broke off.

I can imagine a photographer rushing to switch flashes, and isn't careful about handling the flash accidentally snagging one or more of the contacts.

Wonder if the engineers thought about all the ways an active photographer use their equipment? It's one thing to use gear in a relaxed deliberate manner, and another, when in an actual shooting situation.