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Ask DLS: why is every damn web browser logo round?
Maybe you noticed this ages ago, but the thought just occurred to me (and most of the rest of our crew after I pinged the list) this afternoon. Why is it that every web browser has a round icon/logo?
Don't get me wrong - we kicked it around on the list and there's the obvious roundness in the phrase World Wide Web. But is there any other sector where the iconography is this uniform?
Netscape used to have a big, boxy icon, but even that vanished as time went by. With the digging I did this afternoon, I only found one non-round icon: Midori (right). And even it has kind of a squashed-but-still-round look to it.
Oddly, Opera, whose name "sounds" like it should be the roundest logo of the bunch, is noticeably less round than the others I shopped together.
What's the deal? Is the circle just the ultimate shape for a browser logo?
Could there be some kind of Illuminati-run conspiracy at work?
Sesame Street was all about circles the other day, maybe those creepy little muppets are behind it all...
Don't get me wrong - we kicked it around on the list and there's the obvious roundness in the phrase World Wide Web. But is there any other sector where the iconography is this uniform?
Netscape used to have a big, boxy icon, but even that vanished as time went by. With the digging I did this afternoon, I only found one non-round icon: Midori (right). And even it has kind of a squashed-but-still-round look to it.Oddly, Opera, whose name "sounds" like it should be the roundest logo of the bunch, is noticeably less round than the others I shopped together.
What's the deal? Is the circle just the ultimate shape for a browser logo?
Could there be some kind of Illuminati-run conspiracy at work?
Sesame Street was all about circles the other day, maybe those creepy little muppets are behind it all...
Comments
54
Subscribe to commentsSimonJun 19th 2009 8:30PM
I think a lot of it is a positive feedback loop. People got used to the idea that the icon that goes to the internet is the round, blue one, so other browser-makers followed suit with at least the shape. High-contrast shapes are very easy to recognize quickly (as compared to color or texture, which requires focus to distinguish), so it should come as no surprise that browser-makers want the shape of their icon to be similar enough to prevent a cognitive hiccup when they go looking for "The Internet".
PeterJun 19th 2009 8:35PM
It's not just browsers, lots of icons are round.
iTunes, Quicken, FeedDemon, KeePass, Ghost, Roxio Creator, Second Copy.
It's a conspiracy man...
paul.m.wilkinsJun 19th 2009 8:40PM
The roundness is to represent the world, of planet Earth.
The internet gives you access to the world, so using the world as the internet logo.
You will see the world used in around half of the logos you've shown there. Internet Explorer also used it for their activity indicator a while ago as well.
Lee MathewsJun 19th 2009 8:50PM
I could swear I mentioned the world thing...or is my trick playing minds on me?
CamJun 19th 2009 9:17PM
"my trick playing minds on me?:"
Um..... rephrase?
ToddJun 19th 2009 8:38PM
"Squaring a circle" is a programmer/mathematician inside joke.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squaring_the_circle
See also Web 2.0's hatred of vowels, especially the letter 'e' as in [Internet] Explorer.
AlexLJun 19th 2009 8:41PM
I think it has something to do with the icons of the first two browsers, Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. If memory serves me correctly, around the time Internet Explorer was introduced, Netscape had switched to using the round steering wheel logo, and IE used an icon that's half-globe, half-letter-e. I've heard non-tech-savvy people referring to the two browsers as the "big wheel" or the "big globe" when talking about which one they should use to visit websites. The relationship between round icons and browsing websites probably became ingrained into people's minds then, and browsers thereafter followed suit.
David MoisanJun 21st 2009 8:22PM
Actually, IE 1.0 (and 2.0) had the Windows flag and cloud background that conformed with Win95, so that's square. The old Netscape "N" logo of that era was square, too.
AlexLJun 21st 2009 8:30PM
We might be talking about different eras. I distinctly remember the icons of the two browsers installed on the Windows 95 systems I've seen, the one for Internet Explorer was of a globe (possibly with half of a letter e or a magnifying glass) and the one for Netscape Navigator was of a steering wheel for ships. These might not have been the original icons for the browsers but they were being used during the era I'm remembering.
jagophateJun 19th 2009 8:47PM
My 2 cents:
The icons are round because like a circle, the internet has no ending point.
sepiriothJun 19th 2009 8:59PM
this is just my opinion so dont jump down my throat.
world wide web, world = earth = round
wasnt the first browser just a globe icon? (ie anyways)
that leaves us with a very easy answer, plagiarism
Grant RobertsonJun 19th 2009 11:04PM
Ah yes, IE the "first browser", I remember it well. Uhg.
Try NCSA Mosaic. Unfortunatey I don't remember the icon for Mos on the Dec Alpha box I first browsed the internet on, I can tell you it was black and white, as was everything on that X teminal.
WLJun 19th 2009 9:04PM
What about the Mozilla Suite browser? http://www-archive.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/
MattJun 20th 2009 4:05AM
It was discontinued and replaced by a suite with a round logo. ;)
WLJun 20th 2009 2:13PM
dang!
Danny BoyJun 19th 2009 9:14PM
The OffyByOne browser (with full HTML 3.2 support!) does not have a round icon either. It seems to be stuck in the mid-90s. I used it semi-regularly until all these web 2.0 scripts ruined my internet experience. :)
Also, the Gnome browsers Galeon and Epiphany aren't round.
Kenn.keeperJun 19th 2009 9:16PM
Round icons symbolize the IQ of those who come in here an argue or use foul language......
Free is Good
Kenn.....
DafretyJun 19th 2009 9:21PM
I think it's just that round icons are pleasing to the eye. Looking at my taskbar I have 8 icons. 6 are round, and one is roundish.
billcantfartJun 19th 2009 10:20PM
...What about the last one? I GOTTA KNOW!!
DafretyJun 20th 2009 12:18AM
It is U Torrent. Square.