The character × is not universally used for multiplication - in various places in Europe we use . for multiplication, and not the · character, literally . as in

The character × is not universally used for multiplication - in various places in Europe we use . for multiplication, and not the · character, literally . as in 12.34 = 408. The only time × is used is for vector cross-product. And similarly we don't use ÷, we use :. I always thought * and / were a good compromise - the former for looking just like a fat dot, and the latter because it looks like a fraction written on a single line.