4 ms·

We should keep it. The benefit from switching is miniscule, and the value lost in continuity and recognizability is massive. I'm tired of designers chasing fad

We should keep it. The benefit from switching is miniscule, and the value lost in continuity and recognizability is massive. I'm tired of designers chasing fads.

acadapter 5y ago
Imagine if those "designers" suddenly got interested in the Chinese language. - "Hey, why is the character for 'sun' so boxy? The sun is round! Let's make the character a bit rounder! New Unicode position!" - "Oh, but you forgot to remove the line in the middle, I need a new Unicode position for my variant!" - "Wait! In my newly designed font, I just replaced the original one. What do I do with the two new Unicode characters? And should I keep the horizontal line in the middle?"
- salamandersauce 5y ago
  It only took about 1000 years for designers to stop mucking about around with Chinese characters. Hopefully by the year 3000 the save icon will also be cemented.
- quixoticaxolotl 5y ago
  Ironically, there have been copious attempts at streamlining Chinese writing, the most successful attempt being simplified Chinese, so this isn't as strong a rebuttal as you'd think
  - hollerith 5y ago
    Sure, but such attempts don't try to replace an ideogram because the object of daily life that inspired it is obsolete.
greenyoda 5y ago
I agree. Also, what modern icon could be used to replace the floppy disk that would be immediately recognizable as meaning "save this file"? And if it represents a currently-used device, like a USB thumb drive, how long before that one becomes obsolete? And would we end up with each product having a different icon?
- benjamir 5y ago
  Piggy bank -- as long as there are coins. Safe -- regarding obsoletion: probably a safe bet compared to a piggy bank (pun intended)
- wpm 5y ago
  Some could argue that even USB sticks are pretty obsolete. Most mere mortals don't really use them anymore, and the only time I use them at home is when I need to boot off an installation .iso or something. They are rarely, if ever, part of my work day.
rightbyte 5y ago
I looked around at my desktop, and GNU Octave has some "folded arror into top of computer" instead of the floppy. Way worse and totally random. Notepad++, MS Office and Emacs has the floppy.

We should keep it. The benefit from switching is miniscule, and the value lost in continuity and recognizability is massive. I'm tired of designers chasing fads.

acadapter 5y ago

Imagine if those "designers" suddenly got interested in the Chinese language. - "Hey, why is the character for 'sun' so boxy? The sun is round! Let's make the character a bit rounder! New Unicode position!" - "Oh, but you forgot to remove the line in the middle, I need a new Unicode position for my variant!" - "Wait! In my newly designed font, I just replaced the original one. What do I do with the two new Unicode characters? And should I keep the horizontal line in the middle?"

salamandersauce 5y ago
It only took about 1000 years for designers to stop mucking about around with Chinese characters. Hopefully by the year 3000 the save icon will also be cemented.
quixoticaxolotl 5y ago
Ironically, there have been copious attempts at streamlining Chinese writing, the most successful attempt being simplified Chinese, so this isn't as strong a rebuttal as you'd think
- hollerith 5y ago
  Sure, but such attempts don't try to replace an ideogram because the object of daily life that inspired it is obsolete.

greenyoda 5y ago

I agree. Also, what modern icon could be used to replace the floppy disk that would be immediately recognizable as meaning "save this file"? And if it represents a currently-used device, like a USB thumb drive, how long before that one becomes obsolete? And would we end up with each product having a different icon?

benjamir 5y ago
Piggy bank -- as long as there are coins. Safe -- regarding obsoletion: probably a safe bet compared to a piggy bank (pun intended)
wpm 5y ago
Some could argue that even USB sticks are pretty obsolete. Most mere mortals don't really use them anymore, and the only time I use them at home is when I need to boot off an installation .iso or something. They are rarely, if ever, part of my work day.

rightbyte 5y ago

I looked around at my desktop, and GNU Octave has some "folded arror into top of computer" instead of the floppy. Way worse and totally random. Notepad++, MS Office and Emacs has the floppy.