Thanks for the comments. The default seat height issue cuts both ways. On some of the boats a low CG is more important and unweighting it can cause the seat to spontaneously pop up in unstable water where resetting it down would be especially hazardous. Additionally, remounting a capsized boat on most cases is easier of the seat is down. Hobie has to look at it from the safety point of view.
That being said, there are also certain models and situations where you might like like to have the seat default to the high kick stand. Chekika, among others has posted the easy reversal (for his AI which has no stability issues) that you can do to make your seat permanently sit high -- see the following:
Chekika wrote: Modification of the Vantage CT seat kickstand default positionI use the Vantage CT seat in its highest position in front. The problem for me (6’, 190#) is that the high front position and the kickstand in default LOW POSITION, the seat slants down too much in the rear. For those of you who don't know, the "kickstand" is the set of pegs in the rear of the seat. They are not deployed in the default low position.
The front of the seat cuts my leg circulation and great discomfort follows. I solve the problem by putting the kickstand in the HIGH POSITION.
I don’t know how you reliably locate the MID POSITION of the kickstand—by experience and feel, I guess.
While it is easy to put the kickstand into the HIGH POSITION, each time you shift your weight forward (like adjusting the mirage drive, reaching for a wayward main sheet or your GPS or your cooler, bringing a fish in alongside the boat, or any other reason), the spring-loaded kickstand flips back to the default LOW POSITION. It can be quite frustrating.
In addition to comfort, a big advantage to using the Vantage seat in the highest position, front and back, is that it provides space under the seat to store my hand pump, drinks, etc. To avoid the automatic “flipping” to default LOW POSITION, I decided to fix the kickstand in the HIGH POSITION. It is simple to do by reversing the tension on the spring which flips it to LOW.
Simply unscrew the Philips screw holding the spring. Using an icepick to hold the spring with the opposite tension (twist), re-insert the screw. Now the spring holds the kickstand in the “HIGH POSITION”—the new default and only position. The seat is near level and no longer cuts off my circulation.
After my recent capsize, I decided to add another tether to the seat. During my capsize, my seat stayed attached to the boat fine, but, I sure would not want to lose that seat on a lengthy camping trip. It is also in keeping with my new mantra: Better to tether than to shed tears.
Keith
Perhaps on future models Hobie will make this selectable. 
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