[collingreen]

Distinctive hammers and other tools get brand recognition and free marketing out in the field, ostensibly increasing sales - that's why all the tool companies have their distinct colors and you can see the type of tool someone uses from a distance. Matching chargers/batteries incompatible with other brands perpetuate this even further.

Someone IS designing all this, they just aren't optimizing for what you wish they were.

[freefaler]

For any serious tool, the brand recognition is secondary. It might be a different color, but the function is the more important part.