In a lot of cases, the distinction doesn’t really matter. If it does in a particular application, I’d probably prefer words to make the nuance clear – but an arrow to cloud + arrow to disk/folder may be appropriate for some of the cases if an icon is required too.
In GIMP 2.10 on my system, there’s a small difference between Save and Save As’s icons. I think they added a pen over the hard disk the arrow is pointing towards – presumably to indicate re-labeling? The difference is just barely visually distinguishable on my screen though. There’s also an Export option (which has no icon, despite it being something I use a fair bit more than many of the other File menu commands) and a “Send by Email…” option with pencil over some paper with lines on it (presumably lines of text that’s too small to be distinct).
xed on my system has an arrow pointing at a line for Save and an arrow with a line plus 3 dots over it for Save As. Only the Save icon is on the toolbar; the other is in the File menu. I’ve actually never noticed that distinction before, and if I weren’t actively looking for save icons in the software I have installed right now, I don’t know if I’d have ever noticed…
LibreOffice still has a (very stylized) floppy disk on the toolbar for Save and no icons whatsoever in the file menu on my system.
KolourPaint uses an arrow pointing into the drawer of a filing cabinet in the toolbar, and a much more squashed version of that in the File menu – along with something additional (a partially filed in text box to indicate relabeling?) above the Save As variant in the File Menu.
Not sure if I have any other software that I still use regularly which has a Save icon… (My browser just uses text without any icons for save from File menu or via right click menu.)
There’s a good reason that these two icons are currently different.
Not really, it’s just legacy, the same reason the save icon is still a floppy disk in most programs. That’s what it’s always been.
You may make the distinction between saving a document and downloading a document, but most people don’t pay anywhere near that amount of attention, and don’t care about specifics.
When you’re working on a document in the cloud you have the option to save it (in the cloud) or download it (to your device). Those are two actions that can exist at the same time.
Downloading data and saving data are two separate and distinct functions that describe a different process. While they may have a similar result, they are not the same thing.
You may not understand that, even after I’ve explained it a second time, but they’re not the same thing. They work differently, occurring different contexts, and a single icon should not be used to communicate two distinct concepts. That’s why there are two separate icons.
Whether the save icon is that of a floppy disk or not, doesn’t change that.
And your argument basically amounts to that people are too stupid to care.
But you raise a good point: why would it need to be changed? It’s everywhere, everyone already knows it, it works. Why change it? After all, you seem to think that people are too stupid to care.
You may make the distinction between saving a document and downloading a document, but most people don’t pay anywhere near that amount of attention, and don’t care about specifics.
Covering “Most people” but not all cases is where most software goes awry. We should probably try to avoid that for something as universal as saving a file.
One could make the same argument about creating a more complicated solution when a simple one solves it for 99% of users. Especially when the remaining 1% will know the difference based on what they’re doing, regardless of the icon used.
(See, I can simplify stuff too. Now there’s a chance that a certain amount of people are wondering if I’m having a stroke instead of linking it to a well-known English saying.
That’s why you’re not actually “simplifying” anything.)
how do you seperate that from downloading? I had a similar idea.
In a lot of cases, the distinction doesn’t really matter. If it does in a particular application, I’d probably prefer words to make the nuance clear – but an arrow to cloud + arrow to disk/folder may be appropriate for some of the cases if an icon is required too.
In GIMP 2.10 on my system, there’s a small difference between Save and Save As’s icons. I think they added a pen over the hard disk the arrow is pointing towards – presumably to indicate re-labeling? The difference is just barely visually distinguishable on my screen though. There’s also an Export option (which has no icon, despite it being something I use a fair bit more than many of the other File menu commands) and a “Send by Email…” option with pencil over some paper with lines on it (presumably lines of text that’s too small to be distinct).
xed on my system has an arrow pointing at a line for Save and an arrow with a line plus 3 dots over it for Save As. Only the Save icon is on the toolbar; the other is in the File menu. I’ve actually never noticed that distinction before, and if I weren’t actively looking for save icons in the software I have installed right now, I don’t know if I’d have ever noticed…
LibreOffice still has a (very stylized) floppy disk on the toolbar for Save and no icons whatsoever in the file menu on my system.
KolourPaint uses an arrow pointing into the drawer of a filing cabinet in the toolbar, and a much more squashed version of that in the File menu – along with something additional (a partially filed in text box to indicate relabeling?) above the Save As variant in the File Menu.
Not sure if I have any other software that I still use regularly which has a Save icon… (My browser just uses text without any icons for save from File menu or via right click menu.)
Why does it need to be separate? The end result is the same, the file on your device. Where it is coming from makes no difference.
99% of users won’t care at all.
It’s infinitely more accurate than a floppy disk icon.
They need to be separate because saving and downloading are two separate things.
When I’m in Photoshop, I don’t download the file I’m working on. I save it.
There’s a good reason that these two icons are currently different.
Not really, it’s just legacy, the same reason the save icon is still a floppy disk in most programs. That’s what it’s always been.
You may make the distinction between saving a document and downloading a document, but most people don’t pay anywhere near that amount of attention, and don’t care about specifics.
When you’re working on a document in the cloud you have the option to save it (in the cloud) or download it (to your device). Those are two actions that can exist at the same time.
No, that’s not it at all
Downloading data and saving data are two separate and distinct functions that describe a different process. While they may have a similar result, they are not the same thing.
You may not understand that, even after I’ve explained it a second time, but they’re not the same thing. They work differently, occurring different contexts, and a single icon should not be used to communicate two distinct concepts. That’s why there are two separate icons.
Whether the save icon is that of a floppy disk or not, doesn’t change that.
And your argument basically amounts to that people are too stupid to care.
But you raise a good point: why would it need to be changed? It’s everywhere, everyone already knows it, it works. Why change it? After all, you seem to think that people are too stupid to care.
Then why do you care?
Covering “Most people” but not all cases is where most software goes awry. We should probably try to avoid that for something as universal as saving a file.
One could make the same argument about creating a more complicated solution when a simple one solves it for 99% of users. Especially when the remaining 1% will know the difference based on what they’re doing, regardless of the icon used.
You could make that argument, but you’d be wrong.
I really shouldn’t have to keep explaining why.
Something something assumptions, asses, etc.
(See, I can simplify stuff too. Now there’s a chance that a certain amount of people are wondering if I’m having a stroke instead of linking it to a well-known English saying.
That’s why you’re not actually “simplifying” anything.)