My father-in-law took his Clearviewer-equipped ZS7 on an extended cruise to Bora Bora recently, and said a lot of folks asked about the "thing" behind the screen. When showed how it worked, several were amazed that they could actually "see" what they were shooting, instead of what was "normal" for them. So it's become "normal" to get a general idea of what's in your photo, and actually seeing it well is now an extra, a bonus. 8^) So manufacturers don't have to put a good viewfinder on the camera, seeing is an "extra option".
I still remember a comment in the Canon forum some time ago, discussing the need for a better way to see the LCD, and the comment was "What do you need to see for, it's a point and shoot?" referring to the S90, a $400 camera. Not all of us agree with that.
But some of us do like to use these compacts for things beyond snapshots, and we do have options. Top-mount viewfinders for some models, if you like that configuration, or the Clearviewer if you don't (or for models without EVF options), or the Hoodman or similar units if you'd prefer to carry it along. Or bring two pairs of 3.00x diopter reading glasses with you, and just put them on stacked, one over the other, when you need to see what you're shooting.
Or, if you don't want any "accessories", then what you (can) see is what you get, it's that easy.
I think they're covering that with the add-on viewfinders. First, the camera costs more because it's a higher-end model, then another $150-300 for a viewfinder (the optical glass add-on for LX3's listed at $200, fortunately they were in short supply when I got my LX3 and I couldn't buy one 8^).
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