All of the other ones in similar style (like "upload" and "download" on that page) have obvious problems with localisation where translated words might not be based on up/down.<p>I think the ultimate value is in them staying the same: iow, they are learned.<p>I like the style of this one, and as "save" it's generally ok ("save as" is even great once you know save, though not sure about languages not using ellipsis).
I remember the unreal 1 editor, with apple and dinosaur head icons all around the map. Not because there were apples or dinosaurs in the game, just as representation of scripts and paths. They were totally off-meaning but very recognizable: you saw in a second what was supposed to happen.<p>I presume the floppy icon is comparable: Visually distinguished from all other icons, so a good icon even if the shape lost its actual meaning
My first impression is that it looks like an "exit" sign. It resembles going through a doorway like this (<a href="https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:grs:7010:E002" rel="nofollow">https://www.iso.org/obp/ui#iso:grs:7010:E002</a>)
The concept of saving to me feels outdated and archaic after the mobile experience has become the primary interaction with computers and has started to migrate into pc. 99.9999% of cases where you mutate a digital artifact you intend that mutation to be persistent in all other cases you’d want a commit/track-change like paradigm rather than the odd: “your changes live in a temporary fragile reality that might break and be forever lost unless you initiate a persists to storage operation”
Why can't we keep the floppy and use icons like these for new functionality that are more appropriate?<p>There is nothing wrong with the floppy and no, people are not too stupid to learn that it means save.