Pet Peeve -- why do headphone companies make the LEFT and RIGHT symbols so hard to locate

Look where the wires connect to the earpiece. Red means Right...

On Gado 10E in ear phones, the left has a very tactile bump.

Why do the manufacturers make these important labels so small and hard to find? Aesthetics? Arrogance? Lack of human factor design skills?

All consumer-facing companies have a group (two groups) devoted to this (UX and ID) to provide input on aesthetics, human factors, etc. So it's usually not a lack of thought on this. But the outcomes of these groups can be questionable at times. Many design engineers look at the ID/UX decisions that they have to incorporate into a product and shake their heads, when form is chosen over function (to the detriment of the product). I have always called this "form over function" in my line of work.

Look where the wires connect to the earpiece. Red means Right...

Not all headphones have two connections and not all are color coded.  My HD6XX are balanced, but both ends of the cable are black, they stick straight down, and the little "L" and "R" are hard to see in the dark.  It is a little annoying, but it's my only complaint about these excellent headphones.  I have more than 10 other sets of headphones and it's pretty easy to tell which side is which at a glance.

OP, I agree.

Also a capital crime: small stickers on every stupid piece of fruit.

I think we have the beginnings of a political platform.