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> Apple, for example, never did come up with an icon for "print" that people didn't have to be told what it meant. Apple could have saved a lot of grief by usin
by machello13 7y ago
> Apple, for example, never did come up with an icon for "print" that people didn't have to be told what it meant. Apple could have saved a lot of grief by using "print" instead of the icon. (The same for "delete".)
Do you have any references for this? Every print icon I've seen Apple use looks like a printer, and every delete icon looks like a trash can. Is there an article or something saying these caused confusion?
- WalterBright 7y agoMy reference is when an Apple salesman came by my workplace around the time the Mac was released. He proudly showed off a sheet of icons, claiming they were all obvious, to a group of maybe 15 of us. One pointed to an icon, and said "what's that box of kleenex mean?" The salesman says "print, it looks like a printer". We all laughed and said it looks like a box of kleenex. The salesman didn't get much headway after that. Printers come in all kinds of form factors. Besides, even if it was recognizable as a printer, a printer is a thing, not an action. Why wouldn't it mean "configure the printer"?
- Aeolun 7y agoYou have to start somewhere. At this point if someone thought the printer icon meant anything but ‘print’ I think they’d be very surprised.
- WalterBright 7y agoIt isn't any harder to learn what "print" means.