Why do some logos look dated? How does design age?

What makes a design look old? How subjective is this? Who decides?

Look at this Bell logo:

It's from 1969. And boy, does it look that way. It's simple and minimal, but.. it looks old.

Take a look the this BP logo:

Old. And not too pretty. And yet.. someone thought it's a good idea.

And something I find ridiculously curious: the old Chrome vs the new Chrome logo:

I remember when I first saw the new icon. I thought it was pretty bad. It lacked something. Today, I look at the old one and smile, thinking "aw, that was ugly. In a cute way, though".

This doesn't only apply to logos that have been improved, I think:

Sorry, Nike. I love the brand, but that logo looks like you paid $35 back in '71 for it.

Now let's go for something else, though a bit off the real logo-esque topic:

I'd believe if someone told me this was a 2013 model. I want one, by the way.

Take a look at most cars from the 90s. 80s. 70s. 95% look horrible. 4% are nearly classic, 1% are so ugly they have their own cult.

What drives the way we perceive "new" vs "old" design?

Look at the web. Flat UI is becoming more and more popular, making gradients look old.

Why? Who decides this? How much of this is about taste and how much about trends?

I mean.. you couldn't slap the old, rainbow-colored Apple logo on the back of every MacBook out there and make it look good today, could you?