5 ms·

The idea that people don't know what a cog or a wrench is seems like the author is taking this a step too far. I wouldn't call those things "shrouded in mystery

The idea that people don't know what a cog or a wrench is seems like the author is taking this a step too far. I wouldn't call those things "shrouded in mystery". Similarly there are still plenty of microphones that look like that, they're professional microphones, not "old fashioned" ones.

batista 14y ago
Plus, once a reference is established (like the floppy disk) it's idiotic to always replace it with the latest tech (we'd have zip drives in the nineties, usb drives in the '00s, the cloud today, etc etc..)
- TwistedWeasel 14y ago
  Exactly, who cares if an icon is based on a dated object if it's understood. All things become dated eventually, especially in the tech world What's the alternative, pick something abstract that confuses people. That didn't work out so well for the recent GMail redesign.
- FuzzyDunlop 14y ago
  We might similarly go to another extreme and phase out the use of 'alpha' and 'beta', or just the ancient Greek alphabet altogether. It's thousands of years old, thus despite our ability to record and learn from history, we should replace it with something more modern.
  - philwelch 14y ago
    If you phased out "alpha" and "beta", you'd have to call the alphabet the aybee.
    - NLips 14y ago
      A lot of people DO call it the "Ay-bee-see"
- antidoh 14y ago
  Floppy drive -> dresser, dresser drawer, kitchen cabinet ... File cabinet. Although I suppose not-old people don't do paper anymore. Plastic storage container? Warehouse. Glovebox (and why is it still called a glovebox anyway?). Bookshelf. It doesn't really matter as long as it's roughly ubiquitous, which the floppy drive is. It doesn't even matter if no one's seen a floppy drive; if someone doesn't recognize what the floppy icon does, then the rest of their computer is new to them and they're learning. Once learned, forget about it. Etc.
- JadeNB 14y ago
  > Plus, once a reference is established (like the floppy disk) it's idiotic to always replace it with the latest tech (we'd have zip drives in the nineties, usb drives in the '00s, the cloud today, etc etc..) And crashed beige boxes for Windows machines mounted on Macs: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/generic-pc.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/generi.... :-)
dkersten 14y ago
Other things I still see regularly in my day to day life, know (young) people that use them or even use myself sometimes: address books, calendars, manila folders, phone handsets, magnifying glass, binoculars, envelopes, screwdrivers, carbon copies of stuff

batista 14y ago

Plus, once a reference is established (like the floppy disk) it's idiotic to always replace it with the latest tech (we'd have zip drives in the nineties, usb drives in the '00s, the cloud today, etc etc..)

TwistedWeasel 14y ago
Exactly, who cares if an icon is based on a dated object if it's understood. All things become dated eventually, especially in the tech world What's the alternative, pick something abstract that confuses people. That didn't work out so well for the recent GMail redesign.
FuzzyDunlop 14y ago
We might similarly go to another extreme and phase out the use of 'alpha' and 'beta', or just the ancient Greek alphabet altogether. It's thousands of years old, thus despite our ability to record and learn from history, we should replace it with something more modern.
- philwelch 14y ago
  If you phased out "alpha" and "beta", you'd have to call the alphabet the aybee.
  - NLips 14y ago
    A lot of people DO call it the "Ay-bee-see"
antidoh 14y ago
Floppy drive -> dresser, dresser drawer, kitchen cabinet ... File cabinet. Although I suppose not-old people don't do paper anymore. Plastic storage container? Warehouse. Glovebox (and why is it still called a glovebox anyway?). Bookshelf. It doesn't really matter as long as it's roughly ubiquitous, which the floppy drive is. It doesn't even matter if no one's seen a floppy drive; if someone doesn't recognize what the floppy icon does, then the rest of their computer is new to them and they're learning. Once learned, forget about it. Etc.
JadeNB 14y ago
> Plus, once a reference is established (like the floppy disk) it's idiotic to always replace it with the latest tech (we'd have zip drives in the nineties, usb drives in the '00s, the cloud today, etc etc..) And crashed beige boxes for Windows machines mounted on Macs: http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/generic-pc.jpg http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2007/10/generi.... :-)

dkersten 14y ago

Other things I still see regularly in my day to day life, know (young) people that use them or even use myself sometimes: address books, calendars, manila folders, phone handsets, magnifying glass, binoculars, envelopes, screwdrivers, carbon copies of stuff