hyper-correct graphic design

[gfish]

Last night I was walking by the Apple store in Oakridge Mall, and I noticed the pair of very prominent Rutherford-style atomic symbols glowing above the "Genius Bar". And it struck me as very ironic, that they would use a fundamentally incorrect model of the atom to symbolize genius.

"Ha ha", I said, "Isn't Apple silly?"

But that got me thinking -- why do we still use the Rutherford model symbol everywhere? Why haven't we come up with an iconic representation of electron orbitals? Surely a truly advanced civilization would be more correct in its iconography. (Yes, I'm still waiting for everyone to learn a sensible conlang, too.) If I was rich, I would totally fund an institute to work on improving this state of affairs.

Comments

[anansi133.livejournal.com]

If the apple symbol is talking to geniuses about their own talent, then it's redundant. presumably geniuses don't need a corporate logo to find each other.

If they're trying to communicate to nongeniuses, that 'here there be genius', then they don't need to be very bright. In fact they're better served by using less-bright colloquialism.

Which is what's wrong with Kansas, so I hear. Liberals stopped using language that midwesterners could identify with, so republicans swooped in with the right kind of noises.