The "floppy disk" icon

J

JimmiG

2[H]4U
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Apr 3, 2008
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Most applications that allow you to "save" something still use the floppy disk to symbolize this, which IMO is out of touch and outdated.

Obviously, for people who are used to computers, it doesn't matter what the icons look like. But for newbies, the icons and symbols are meant to make it easier and more logical to work with otherwise complex tasks like file management. That's why we have icons resembling folders, sheets of papers, photo frames, envelopes etc. In about 1996, letting a floppy disk symbolize "Save" made sense. They were incredibly common for storing as well as transfering files. At many schools and offices, you would bring your own floppy disk and save everything on that instead of using the hard drive or a server. But today? Anyone not born in the 80's, or someone just starting to use computers now, has probably never actually used a floppy disk.. Isn't it time to replace the icon with something more modern and relevant?
 
I dunno but it seems to be a little silly to nitpick something as small as that icon IMO. I think it would be even more confusing to change the Save icon every few years to keep up with the state of storage technology. I mean, who knows if hard drives will even be in the mainstream in the next 10 to 20 years?

Also, look at the keyboards we type on today. The QWERTY layout actually served its purpose back in the heydays of the typewriter to slow the typist down to keep the heads from jamming. Despite that the typewriter has been a dead technology ever since personal computers became mainstream the QWERTY layout still holds strong to this day.
 
IMO a noob is even less likely to know what an HDD is than a Floppy.
 
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