I wonder if some of the change is simply due to increasing screen sizes and resolutions<p>The original Mac had a 9&quot; screen. The menu bar was 20 pixels tall, about 6% of the total screen height, and about a quarter of an inch tall. It was necessarily close and obviously related to anything on screen.<p>I&#x27;m writing this on a 30&quot; screen with a resolution of 2560x1600, and the menu bar is <i>still</i> 20 pixels tall. The menu bar is far away from whatever my attention is on at any given moment, and it physically takes more time to get the mouse cursor there if I&#x27;m going to actually use it.