Thomson,
Your last pull quote nails it for me.
"What’s important are the associations people have with a logo–not the logo itself."

Too true. I have memories, and moments in time that I associate with brands and their visual identity. Granted there is a time and place for rethinking the visual presentation of a brand, but the recent wave of them has been strange.

Thanks for this. Keep writing. 
You have a brand bible in the making on this website.

Cheers,
Bert