I have one of the Ergo seats on my old British 3 speed. It's the firm one. It forces you to sit properly -- on your sits bones. If you sit like this on a seat with a nose, you won't have a problem. However, people with a weaker back/abdomen will have a tendency to roll their pelvis forward when they get tired, causing pressure in the wrong places. In a seat without a nose you simply don't have the option of supporting your weight in places that you shouldn't.

It took me a while to get used to the seat. I tried different heights and tilts and was pretty patient until I found the best position. Maybe this took a couple of weeks. I don't know how you could judge the seat with less than a dozen hours of experience. It's different, you'll have to make adjustments. As for looks, I don't care; but I really don't think it's ugly, certainly not compared to a lot of biking gear and clothes out there.

I have another bike with a standard seat. However, since getting the Ergo seat for the 3 speed, I'm more conscious of how I'm sitting and don't let myself get into bad habits. So there has been a happy spillover. For some people, then, it could be sort of training thing, a temporary form modification intervention.

There are some interesting split seats and other designs that have the same goal. There are some threads on them -- Spiderflex, Spongy Wonder, ISM, etc. I have no experience with them, though. Check out the threads.