I like the idea, but I think many computer systems (including Windows) uses a scroll icon to represent an executable script.
A right-pointing arrow (maybe left-pointing for users using right-to-left languages) pointing at an image of a computer would work. The problem then is trying to think of an icon everybody will recognize as a computer. A picture of a mini-tower, laptop or phone (for mobile apps) might work.
If your GUI includes a generic "computer" icon, overlaying that with an arrow is not a bad idea. And then the icon will change if the user skins the UI to customize the computer icon (e.g. to make it look like the model running the app).
I voted for the diskette. It's terribly anachronistic, but everybody seems to know what it means and it's a distinctive shape.
A hard drive might be a good replacement, but computers don't (generally) use them anymore either. And an SSD doesn't look like anything in particular.
The real problem is that people don't generally use removable storage at all, so there's no immediately familiar image to represent storage. For saving to a network server, the cloud icon (maybe with an arrow) can work, but that fails miserably for local storage.
Of course, if you follow Apple's UI choices, then the entire concept of "save" is an anachronism. Their apps auto-save everything, offering you options to duplicate a document (in lieu of save-as) or to revert contents to some prior state (usually as the document was when it was last opened). That makes discussion about a save icon moot, but it introduces questions about what these other icons should look like, if they will appear on a tool-bar.
Authored Comments
I like the idea, but I think many computer systems (including Windows) uses a scroll icon to represent an executable script.
A right-pointing arrow (maybe left-pointing for users using right-to-left languages) pointing at an image of a computer would work. The problem then is trying to think of an icon everybody will recognize as a computer. A picture of a mini-tower, laptop or phone (for mobile apps) might work.
If your GUI includes a generic "computer" icon, overlaying that with an arrow is not a bad idea. And then the icon will change if the user skins the UI to customize the computer icon (e.g. to make it look like the model running the app).
I voted for the diskette. It's terribly anachronistic, but everybody seems to know what it means and it's a distinctive shape.
A hard drive might be a good replacement, but computers don't (generally) use them anymore either. And an SSD doesn't look like anything in particular.
The real problem is that people don't generally use removable storage at all, so there's no immediately familiar image to represent storage. For saving to a network server, the cloud icon (maybe with an arrow) can work, but that fails miserably for local storage.
Of course, if you follow Apple's UI choices, then the entire concept of "save" is an anachronism. Their apps auto-save everything, offering you options to duplicate a document (in lieu of save-as) or to revert contents to some prior state (usually as the document was when it was last opened). That makes discussion about a save icon moot, but it introduces questions about what these other icons should look like, if they will appear on a tool-bar.