# What computer icon most needs reworking? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 20, 2022, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260 "2022-07-20T12:39:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2022, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/101 "2022-07-25T23:54:53Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > I saw a picture of a floppy disk on Facebook with the caption, “My 7-year-old said to me, ‘Ooh, you 3-D printed the Save logo!’” This is … so cool. Nice one. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/102 "2022-07-26T00:06:23Z")
I have no idea what that top row is supposed to represent. It looks like the face of a worried man at 0° rotation, then the same face at 90° rotation, then some weird bobsled, then a bunch of golf tees in a pile. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/103 "2022-07-26T00:26:09Z")
It is the same word (sag̃ = “head”) written with the same glyph, but in different times. After a mere 2 or 3 thousand years people may be saying it looks like a bunch of golf tees in a pile, and maybe they should draw a little head pictogram instead… ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/104 "2022-07-26T04:18:58Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Or yours. Have you watched any of those videos? Maybe you got one randomly, and now the algorithm thinks you are interested. The most likely explanation. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/105 "2022-07-26T11:13:25Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > I use a fountain pen every day. Can’t tell you the last time I used a 3.5" floppy. You can’t tell me something like that without telling me WHY! Don’t you get tired of dipping it into an ink well every ten seconds? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/106 "2022-07-26T11:51:15Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Ward keys haven’t been seriously used for about as long as fountain pens You must spend all your time in North America. Ward locks remain common in Europe. Two of my last four offices and two of my last four homes had main entry doors with a ward lock (though always in addition to a tumbler lock or combination lock). I’ve got two ward keys on my keyring, one of which gets used every day for work. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/107 "2022-07-26T11:57:34Z")
The last time I saw a floppy disk, it was a joke I put up in my office (labelled “CRITICAL BACKUPS” and stuck to the side of a file cabinet with a magnet). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/108 "2022-07-26T12:16:35Z")
And the reason the later ones look like a pile of golf tees is because of the medium used to write them. A cuineform stylus, used on damp clay, makes a mark shaped like a golf tee, so all of the symbols in your writing have to be made out of golf tees. @psychonaut , I suppose it’s not surprising that ward locks are still common in Europe, given that you have a lot more older buildings than we do. Though I’d still wager that almost all key-locks made nowadays are tumbler locks. My mom’s hundred-year-old house still has ward locks on interior doors, but I don’t think we ever had keys for any of them in my lifetime, and after so long unused, they’re probably all nonfunctional. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/109 "2022-07-26T12:25:34Z")
I have some ward keys that open cupboards and drawers in my dining room furniture. I guess the furniture is old, but i suspect it was also a design choice, as this is prettier. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/110 "2022-07-26T12:27:09Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Don’t you get tired of dipping it into an ink well every ten seconds? Fountain pens have a reservoir. You don’t have to fill them very often. And they write with a lovely fluid feel. They suck if you are left handed, though, which is probably why i don’t use them. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/111 "2022-07-26T14:16:31Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Though I’d still wager that almost all key-locks made nowadays are tumbler locks. You definitely can still buy warded padlocks. Why you would want to do this, I don’t know, but Master still sells them. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/112 "2022-07-26T18:54:05Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > You can’t tell me something like that without telling me WHY! > > Don’t you get tired of dipping it into an ink well every ten seconds? As @puzzlegal noted, every fountain pen has a reservoir. You are confusing it with an drip pen. My fountain pens write far better than any ballpoint pen I’ve used. Though I don’t tend to write all that much (as I’m more or less fully digital), but I have a Lamy 2000 with some Pilot Kon-Peki ink at work and a few at home (Pelikan M400 and a TWSBI Eco used mostly) with various inks. I have to re-ink a pen maybe once a month (if not even more infrequent). ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/113 "2022-07-26T19:02:45Z")
Thanks for the clarification. I never knew they have an ink reservoir. I did a little research and, apparently, you are far from alone in preferring fountain pens. [**10 Reasons Why Fountain Pens are Better Than Ballpoints**](https://blog.penvibe.com/10-reasons-why-fountain-pens-are-better-than-ballpoints/) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2022, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/114 "2022-07-27T11:19:04Z")
Yes, the floppy disk icon is based on an obsolete metaphor, but trying to change it would probably become a white elephant project bogged down in red tape. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/115 "2022-07-28T20:04:42Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > They suck if you are left handed, though, which is probably why i don’t use them. As a southpaw I always loathed ballpoints because I had to push them across the paper\* instead of pulling them like the righties did. I much preferred the feel of a fountain pen, using a Scripto cartridge pen my early high school years, but I had to be careful of smearing. When Pentel first invented the felt-tip pen, or at least made it largely available, I was deliriously happy and have used them ever since. \*You have to push pencils too but that never bugged me as such. I suspect the feel of the graphite wearing down was the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2022, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/116 "2022-07-28T20:17:51Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > [**10 Reasons Why Fountain Pens are Better Than Ballpoints**](https://blog.penvibe.com/10-reasons-why-fountain-pens-are-better-than-ballpoints/) The link says “Website Disabled” for me. Big Ballpoint strikes again! You can’t trust those guys. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/117 "2022-07-29T01:00:24Z")
Pencil or (any kind of) pen, I do not think you should be jamming the point into the paper. Imagine doing that with a super sharp nib. You may have to reverse direction, but no pressure on the upstrokes, or you will tear through the paper and/or ruin the nib. I pointed this out for an example icon where it looked like the quill was being pushed forward. As for smearing, e.g. keep your hand below the line of text, not in the way. Some ink dries much less quickly than other kinds, of course. That is where your blotting paper may come in handy (or pounce, I suppose). ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/118 "2022-07-29T10:27:37Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > apparently, you are far from alone in preferring fountain pens My children are strictly required to use fountain pens over ballpoint in their European classrooms. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/119 "2022-07-29T10:52:01Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > My children are strictly required to use fountain pens over ballpoint in their European classrooms. Makes sense (up to a point… as long as you use the right kind of ink, do the teachers really know or care what the pen looks like?), and fountain pens are practical with their reservoir of ink and so on, but I wonder when (if?) they stopped teaching beginning penmanship in elementary school with the dip pens and violet ink? [![](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/76/4b/19/764b193df3cacd2272cbf7f530135501.jpg) ](https://i.pinimg.com/474x/76/4b/19/764b193df3cacd2272cbf7f530135501.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2022, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260/120 "2022-07-29T10:56:28Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > As for smearing, e.g. keep your hand below the line of text, not in the way. Right. That doesn’t work if you are left handed. Not unless you turn the pad 90 degrees, and write down, instead of left to right. Most left handers instead hold their hand a little above the line they are writing, so they can see what they are doing. But unless the ink is dry in the time it takes you to write a line, that creates smudges. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-computer-icon-most-needs-reworking/968260.md?page=7)