EDIT: It appears that this was a slow rollout, it appears you can no longer click the logo to get back to the google homepage in ANY browser.
EDIT 2: Why did this instantly fall off the front page? This has happened with 5 out of the last 5 things I have posted that made it to the front page. I think my account account is flagged as spam or something.
Wow, I have to admit I hate this. I've also admitted to myself recently that Twitter's interface drives me nuts after the rehaul a while back. What would help? If these guys would release a thorough write-up and details about the user testing and philosophy for such huge changes. We geeks might be swayed in the face of reason.
This is also true in Google+ and Google Reader. It really throws off my flow. Whenever I try to go back to the main page, I click the logo a few times before I realize it doesn't work anymore...
A few weeks ago, in G+, the logo would give a menu of services, which was also not useful for me.
My hypothesis: Google want to consolidate all their navigation to the top black 'google bar' (or whatever they're calling it). They want to train users to go there to access Search and in turn everything else Googley.
edit: A reddit commenter points out that 'Videos' is now 'YouTube'. I think it's clear this move is a subtle consolidation of services.
Interesting, is this intentional? I know since they switched over to the new interface (with the various search options along the top of the window) they've been trying to get people to embrace the new layout. Maybe they're trying to force users to press "Search" instead of "Google"?
Consider turning on keyboard shortcuts in Gmail. (The default for Go to Inbox is <g> then <i>.) Once you know them, you'll rarely need to click anything.
Actually, it's not draggable either, so it's now (at least) a CSS background image, on a <span>. I'm not sure if it was an <img> inside <a> up until today or not, but in that case, I suppose you could say that CSS was involved.
EDIT 2: Why did this instantly fall off the front page? This has happened with 5 out of the last 5 things I have posted that made it to the front page. I think my account account is flagged as spam or something.