Save icon: Still a floppy disk? [closed]

Answer 1

The floppy disk icon has become the standard for saving files. It's a highly recognizable icon and there's no reason to change that. Consistency between applications is a wonderful thing.

I suspect that over time the icon will grow more stylized and less like an actual floppy disk once people start forgetting what they look like (or never knew). The icon nowadays represents the concept of saving more than it represents floppy disks anyway.

Answer 2

Why do we even need a "save" function? Anything I write should be automatically saved, and in fact Microsoft Word does that already--if it crashes and haven't saved, your data is still recoverable. Google saves drafts automatically. Why do we still use the "save" paradigm?

Answer 3

It's funny that I found this discussion because I was looking for a standard 'save' icon I could download to replace the 'new and improved' icon that UtlraEdit started using and which was too difficult to pick out on the toolbar. Yes, it is outdated, but everybody recognizes the 3.5" floppy disk image as representing 'save'! Yes, programmers should not be doing things because 'that's the way it's always been done' but icons are language and not methodology. Don't invent a new word just because it would be cool unless your aim is to hide what you are saying from the previous generations.

Answer 4

Look at your brand new cell phone's voicemail icon. There's a good chance it's still the 'tape rollers' icon from magnetic tape based home answering machines.

EDIT:

Okay, not all phones use the icon, but how about the word 'rewind'? I'm sure a few people out there have devices which allow you to 'rewind' a digitial audio or video media file.

Answer 5

If you think about it, mail has no "modern" representation either and is still represented by a paper letter.

^{(image from "It's Time to Change that Metaphor")}

As mentioned in the blog entry "The end of an icon"

It’s dangerous to base a visual analogy on a moving target. Technology will change. What’s clear and obvious today won’t be in 10 years; so what’s nebulous today will be totally obscure in 10 years. The problem with the floppy icon (beyond the iffy analogy) is the generation gap.

Still, as long as the underlying action is clear, that icon will survive.

^{(image found in many places, including in this blog post)}

Answer 6

Microsoft did a pretty good job of throwing out standard menus and icons in its 2007 office suite. Just about every average/beginner user just hates it for that...