4 ms·

Interestingly, the "SAVE" icon is still a floppy disk[1]. Sure, its stylized a bit, but it is definitely recognizable as a floppy disk from the 80's. How many

by Corrado 12y ago

Interestingly, the "SAVE" icon is still a floppy disk[1]. Sure, its stylized a bit, but it is definitely recognizable as a floppy disk from the 80's. How many years have to elapse before that icon is rethought? When was the last time you personally held an actual floppy disk? How would you even fit a floppy disk into a phone (or website)? [1] https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/352084/ic_save_icon#size=128 https://www.iconfinder.com/icons/352084/ic_save_icon#size=12...

lmz 12y ago
And it even looks more like a 5.25" floppy instead of the more commonly seen (in icons) 3.5" floppy.
cmpaul 12y ago
The handset used for "call" icons should probably be rethought soon too.
grissom 12y ago
This doesn't get me nearly as much as the fact that smartphones are called phones, and probably will be for the forseeable future. The save icon may be anachronistic, but a hardware drive is still an accurate representation of what's happening. Today's phones are about as much about phoning as computers are about word processing.
- judk 12y ago
  What's a hardware drive?
incision 12y ago
">How many years have to elapse before that icon is rethought? When was the last time you personally held an actual floppy disk? How would you even fit a floppy disk into a phone (or website)?" I don't think any of that matters. How many smartphones run on AA batteries [1]? How many people have ever configured anything involving gearing [2]? Rethinking an icon feels like a contradiction. It doesn't matter what it's 'supposed' to be. It's not a floppy disk, it's the save icon. 1: https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=battery https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=battery 2: https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=settings https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=settings
pavlov 12y ago
Many other icons in the set are also anachronisms, or will soon be. An alarm clock with two bells. A credit card with a magnetic stripe. A paper calendar with ring binders. A two-roll tape recorder ("voice mail", apparently). Personally I think that the floppy disk is a good icon precisely because it has ceased to be an everyday physical object. Today, the outline of a 3.5" disk simply means "save" -- there's no other valid association for this shape any more. That is the original definition of an icon: an image that transcends its apparent meaning. Orthodox Christian icons were certainly representational, but the presence of holiness was communicated by a commonly understood system of signs that went beyond the level of appearances. A more modern example of an icon in this sense could be Andy Warhol's images of Marilyn Monroe: calling them "silk-screened reproductions of the portrait of an actress" doesn't capture anything about their cultural meaning.

by Corrado 12y ago

lmz 12y ago

And it even looks more like a 5.25" floppy instead of the more commonly seen (in icons) 3.5" floppy.

cmpaul 12y ago

The handset used for "call" icons should probably be rethought soon too.

grissom 12y ago

This doesn't get me nearly as much as the fact that smartphones are called phones, and probably will be for the forseeable future. The save icon may be anachronistic, but a hardware drive is still an accurate representation of what's happening. Today's phones are about as much about phoning as computers are about word processing.

judk 12y ago
What's a hardware drive?

incision 12y ago

">How many years have to elapse before that icon is rethought? When was the last time you personally held an actual floppy disk? How would you even fit a floppy disk into a phone (or website)?" I don't think any of that matters. How many smartphones run on AA batteries [1]? How many people have ever configured anything involving gearing [2]? Rethinking an icon feels like a contradiction. It doesn't matter what it's 'supposed' to be. It's not a floppy disk, it's the save icon. 1: https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=battery https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=battery 2: https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=settings https://www.iconfinder.com/search/?q=settings

pavlov 12y ago

Many other icons in the set are also anachronisms, or will soon be. An alarm clock with two bells. A credit card with a magnetic stripe. A paper calendar with ring binders. A two-roll tape recorder ("voice mail", apparently). Personally I think that the floppy disk is a good icon precisely because it has ceased to be an everyday physical object. Today, the outline of a 3.5" disk simply means "save" -- there's no other valid association for this shape any more. That is the original definition of an icon: an image that transcends its apparent meaning. Orthodox Christian icons were certainly representational, but the presence of holiness was communicated by a commonly understood system of signs that went beyond the level of appearances. A more modern example of an icon in this sense could be Andy Warhol's images of Marilyn Monroe: calling them "silk-screened reproductions of the portrait of an actress" doesn't capture anything about their cultural meaning.