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

[caladri.livejournal.com]

What do you think is most important in a sensible conlang? First language acquisition? Second language acquisition? Mutual-intelligibility with non-conlangs? I presume you mean sensible as opposed to deliberately constrained or non-serious conlangs, but if you have any thoughts on what's most important, I'd be curious to hear them.

(I've seen a few TV shows take a stab at some ~advanced alien species~ which uses a better form for the periodic table. Some of them were clever, but all looked kind of dumb to me, though that effect could have been primarily due to their unfamiliarity, and such things have more value in being familiar and well-understood and quickly-recognized than in being ideal, I suppose.)

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

To me, it's more of an abstraction, an icon representing something more. Like a stick figure.

[callmem.livejournal.com]

Oh that is funny. A striking visual design or good story wins over accuracy every time, doesn't it?

[gement.livejournal.com]

Shaded areas are harder to draw than lines and circles.

[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.

[zzyzx-xyzzy.livejournal.com]

The lamps are in the shape of p-orbitals. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/27/Beckman_auditorium%2C_Caltech.jpg)

(Wish they could have applied some wave mechanics to fixing the dead, dead acoustics in there, though)

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

Just about everyone understands planets. How do you show multiple electrons in overlapping, non-round spacefilling orbitals, that don't fill sequentially? Like Newtonian mechanics, it's close enough for most purposes.

[pielology.livejournal.com]

The classic Rutherford picture has managed to acquire an enduring association with the 50s Atomic Age. So using it today isn't so much about a representation of science as it is about evoking an era when scientists were highly lauded members of society whose work would save us all.

If you want a stylized graphic representation of modern nuclear physics, I think you'd be better off ditching electron orbitals in favor of Feynmann diagrams.

[ashley-y.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's a reference to Rutherford as a genius.