This image http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2015/10/slide-06..., to me, simbolizes the recent Apple.
To design a wireless mouse around the idea of using it while being wired would be a massive design fail. It would compromise the design of the common use case in order to improve the extremely rare use case.
With this design, I get a first class experience using it when the batteries aren't empty, but I literally cannot use the mouse when I need to charge it. The idea that a mouse should sacrifice such a basic functionality requirement just for the sake of a slightly better design is hilariously backward.
I've had other cordless mice that needed to be charged in a special cradle, which is basically the same thing, and I never heard anyone bitching about "hilariously backwards" design. Most people reviewing the product thought that was convenient.
That image symbolizes Apple to me too. For me it represents how many seemingly poor decisions made by Apple often turn out to be less severe than they initially appeared—many even reasonable.
The original one uses AA batteries while the second iteration, pictured above, uses an integrated battery that needs recharge using the Lightning cable. As you can see, there was no redesign to accommodate this new requirement besides slapping the charge port under the mouse, making it impossible to use while charging.
BTW, there WAS a redesign...it's just that you don't like the redesign, which is different. Some of us like the fact that the Lightning port is hidden and not sticking out the side of the device in some ugly way.
This is a vast improvement which saves all the waste and inconvenience of throw-away batteries.
Edit: BTW, you'll eventually have to throw this mouse away because the battery is dead. And there are AA batteries that can be recharged and used many, many times.
This is the point. If an engineer had shown this piece of work to Steve, do you think they'd still work at Apple?
Yes. And it would not have been an engineer, it would have been the industrial designer. The whole point of the design is beautiful seamless surfaces and curves. That's why the charging port is underneath. Which is exactly where the battery door was, BTW.
Steve Jobs is the guy who added a useless pointless screw (it literally connected to nothing) to one side of the iBook to match a (necessary) screw on the other side.
Steve Jobs is the guy who told people complaining about the iPhone 4 "don't hold it that way."
Steve Jobs is also dead, which is convenient for all the folks who like to invoke His Presence to support their personal opinions.
Incidentally, from an engineering perspective, Li battery devices are not supposed to be plugged in all the time. This design very neatly prevents that from happening.