Branches

Take a look at this screenshot of the iPhone home screen:

See anything incongruous here? Look to the right. Down, down, stop. That orange and white icon, the thing that’s supposed to represent the iPod—what’s it doing with a scroll wheel?

Anyone who’s not been living in an Antarctic ice cave knows what that logo means. I think it’s incredible that Apple was able to simplify the image of their (previously) flagship product to a few simple shapes and make it instantly recognizable. And I understand that the iconography for that button had to stand for more than just music, since it also is the gateway to movies, audiobooks and podcasts. So it makes sense, despite the iPhone’s distinct lack of an actual scrollwheel, to use the universally recognizable iPod logo.

What I wonder is: When Apple moves to an entirely touch-screen line of hardware for the iPod, and scrollwheel iPods are a thing of the past, will the icon still be used? Is that icon burned into our collective consciousness as the symbol for “handheld media player”? If so, that’s a pretty remarkable accomplishment on Apple’s part.

Are there other symbols out there that have outlived the form factors they used to represent?