> Non-programmers don’t care about the aesthetics of software in the same way non-plumbers don’t care about the aesthetics of plumbing
I personally care about the 'aesthetics of plumbing' if I'm able to see them (which I might not be able to).
When we're talking about aesthetics, it means to me that I value the thing because it's a clever solution to a problem. A solution that requires the minimum amount of effort/energy/material and delivers the expected result. I don't really care if somebody designed a lock, a valve , a differential gear, a sorting algorithm or an API.
We can also talk about aesthetics in music or paintings, but those will be subject to the person looking at them and the society that person lives in. Some people think skyscrapers are aesthetic, some people dislike them. While aesthetics in art tend to be more subjective, the engineering solutions are more objective in that regard.