I usually don't visit any website with "Zen" in the title, but this is a pretty good article about outdated iconography that is still hanging around our computer interfaces. We still use the image of a floppy disk to indicate we want to save a file. I understand where Mr. Hanselman is coming from, but there is something to be said for uniformity of design. If you see a floppy disk, you generally know what it means. There are kids who use computers all the time that have never seen an actual physical floppy disk. They know what that square looking thing does, even though they may not know what it is.
Seriously, short of a doctor's office or the DMV when are we coming in contact with clipboards? And why is the clipboard the icon for Paste? Why not Copy? Or "fill out form?
I resent this. I use a clipboard every day. To me clipboards are totally current... and awesome! I will continue to use a clipboard far into the future. I don't care if it is a computer icon or not. It is a sign of a hard-working individual that needs a flat surface on which to write.
Voicemail? Nobody uses voicemail anymore. Let's just get rid of it. We don't need it.
Phone handset... we can't really update that icon because all cell phones these days are rectangular monoliths. As an icon it would be meaningless. We'd have no clue what we were clicking on. The rest is fine, I've never thought about the subtleties between magnifying glasses and binoculars before. Gears for settings? Makes total sense to me.
The most interesting thing to me is the manila folder. It made me think. I realized I've been looking at icons of manila folders for years. I've even used physical manila folders a few times. I have no idea what "manila" is. When I think of the word a vision of Nilla wafers come to mind. They are even mostly the same color. Are they made from the same stuff? Or maybe it is a city. Manila. I swear there is a city named Manila. Is that where all these folders are made? There is such a thing as a Manila envelope too. What does the folder and the envelope have in common?
I couldn't stand to live in ignorance any longer. I had to look it up. It isn't as satisfying as I imagined it would be. Knowing stuff is overrated. Think of the children who are clicking on images of things that they have no clue what they are. Let them have a little mystery. Keep the floppy.
