Erik Satie or Jonny Greenwood would not poo-poo it like you guys. They would just whip-out a schlocky jam with a smile or twitch respectively.
I think that that thing is fun, in a 16 years old "Atari box-mouse" sort of way. I don't know the Hotz has been updated like some of the "mini-jammer" apps available for the iPhone, or that round table synth thing that people here link.
Anyone who has logged kilohours in the studio has both used and seen used various Barbie guitars, bee-boy beatboxes, kiddie keyboards, etc. Or the dented tuba in the corner, hmmm?
Who cares what it is, as long as the player or someone else taps their foot, or smiles, or gets over a creative block, or simply asks "what IS that thing?"
There is a 12 foot long beam-box overhead on the platform at Times Square NYC, installed 17 years ago, that had multiple trigger windows on the sides. You could reach up and break a beam triggering a sound. The point was to have a few people trigger the different sounds while waiting for the N/R train. It was fun to play. It's been on and off for a few years now.
I didn't know we had a bunch of Beethovens here!
Mike