Somebody will have to pass judgement on this, but I've been told since time immemorial that you should yank the plug from the wall rather than yank the plug from the device (and vice-versa, i.e. you should plug the cord into the device before you plug it into the wall).
As for cost cutting, I was amazed when I got my replacement DSL modem: Not only had one of the four indicator lights been eliminated, but where the original came with a USB port, an Ethernet port, and a cable for each, the new one has only an Ethernet port and a cable that's Ethernet at the modem end and splits into Ethernet and USB cables at the other end.
