Our office recently updated to a new version of the Office Suite, and it still has an icon in the upper-left corner to perform the 'Save' function. Floppy drives have not been in use for years, and many children would not recognize a 3.5 inch floppy disk on sight. Programs have used this icon for years, because we have yet to find a suitable replacement. The CD/DVD can no longer represent saving, because they have come and gone. Even moving to the more abstract Piggy Bank icon would not work, because they are seldom used in the modern age. A USB Key icon may represent saving in some form, but the may not be around much longer if another medium gains favor. Does this mean that the venerable 3.5 inch Floppy will represent saving information to future generations, or should it be replaced by a different symbol?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by maxwell demon on Tuesday December 20 2016, @09:21AM
The icon is a "save" icon, and even though I'm old enough to not only know floppies, but even to know 5.25" floppies, when I see the icon, I don't think "floppy", I think "save". That's the meaning of the icon, and there's no more problem than there is with an icon showing a man and a woman telling you that there are toilets for men and women, and I've never heard the complaint that the icon doesn't actually show a toilet.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by FatPhil on Tuesday December 20 2016, @09:41AM
Git orf moi lorn!!!
http://fatphil.org/images/8_inches_of_pure_floppiness.jpg
(sorry, that's an old one, I'm not in the office at the moment, so can't take a fresh photo. Other historical ones include http://fatphil.org/images/im_floppier.jpg and http://fatphil.org/images/floppy_pipe.jpg )
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(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 20 2016, @10:24AM
Actually, the bathroom icons are confusing for handicapped. If there is a woman and a wheelchair, is it fine for guys in a wheelchair to use?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 20 2016, @10:29AM
But that would not be improved if the icon would show an actual toilet, would it?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 20 2016, @11:28AM
Put a damn picture of a bar beside the toilet? It's not hard to be clear, either...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 20 2016, @01:21PM
So would that bar besides the toilet mean "only females", or would it mean "all handicapped"?
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Tuesday December 20 2016, @03:31PM
A bar? Like, where you drink alcohol, or a pipe [wikipedia.org] like an OR statement? I don't follow.
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