Apple's Flipping Logo

Apple used to place its logo on its laptops so that it's right-side up when the user looks at the closed laptop, but upside when open and seen by others - and then it changed.  For a company with such a reputation for design and usability perfection, how could a binary choice (literally) flip?  Joe Moreno reports why it happened:  it was originally oriented to help users know which end of the laptop to open - a laserlike focus on usability.  But they eventually realized that users will only make that mistake once or twice, and then solve the problem for themselves.  Conversely, the upside-down logo for everyone else lasts for the life of the product - and the product fumbles a great chance to advertise itself to prospective customers.  Every other laptop maker seems to have come to the same conclusion, and it'll probably stay that way - until a tech comes along that enables flipping logos!
[via Gizmodo]