Vestigial icons

Quick! What's the icon circled in red mean?

"Save," right?

Now, what does that icon depict?

It's a 3½" floppy disk.

When was the last time you used a 3½" floppy disk?

I'm guessing it's been about 5 years since most people have touched one.

So why is that still showing up as an icon for "save"?


I wonder how long it'll be before that 3½" floppy fades as a symbol for "save." What will replace it? Will it be a flash drive icon, or perhaps something less computer centered, like a bank vault?. I wonder if there are computer users now how recognize that it means "save," but not why it means save.