Search vs. Find
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Many websites and applications offer such features. Does it bother anyone else that the search feature tends to always have a magnifying glass even though it is searching outside of what you are looking at broadly while the find has a binnoculars and is searching with in what you are looking at finely? Who the heck originally set these icons as a standard?
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
I think the idea of using the magnifying glass for search/find comes from magnifying glasses being associated with detectives, a la, Sherlock Holmes. Detectives are always searching for something...
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Chrome gives me a malware warning for this link :suss:
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magnifying glass is for zoom. binoculars are for find/search. Anything else is just silly, to me.
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
enhzflep wrote:
FTFY!
You didn't really fix anything, sorry. :)
"the meat from that butcher is just the dogs danglies, absolutely amazing cuts of beef." - DaveAuld (2011)
"No, that is just the earthly manifestation of the Great God Retardon." - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "It is the celestial scrotum of good luck!" - Nagy Vilmos (2011) "But you probably have the smoothest scrotum of any grown man" - Pete O'Hanlon (2012) -
I think the idea of using the magnifying glass for search/find comes from magnifying glasses being associated with detectives, a la, Sherlock Holmes. Detectives are always searching for something...
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von BraunBut it's used to study something in detail once it has been found. :-D
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But it's used to study something in detail once it has been found. :-D
So true.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering” - Wernher von Braun -
Many websites and applications offer such features. Does it bother anyone else that the search feature tends to always have a magnifying glass even though it is searching outside of what you are looking at broadly while the find has a binnoculars and is searching with in what you are looking at finely? Who the heck originally set these icons as a standard?
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
One of the first associations springing to my mind at the sight of a looking glass is Sherlock Holmes trying to find evidence. It's true that a looking glass primarily serves for magnification, but the purpose of that magnification is _find_ing more detail. (or some specific detail) A spy glass however I associate more with trying to find out what is there at some far-away place. I could make sense of that when searching the internet, or the contents of some 'far-away' web site, but not so much when I search the contents of my hard drive right under my nose! Then again you use a spy glass to see what you couldn't otherwise see - and that is not really true of searching on the internet: Nothing you could find on the internet is truly hidden from your sight. The problem is just that there are so many items to see that you need a filter to cut down on the number of objects you have to inspect. Therefore a better icon for an internet search function would be a funnel or a sieve. That said, you could use almost the same argument against a looking glass icon: you use a looking glass to spot details invisible to the unaided eye. This is not really the true purpose of search/find functions. So, no, a spyglass icon doesn't make sense to me in the context of searching (or finding). And while I'm more inclined to accept a looking glass, anything representing a filter would be more fitting!
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Many websites and applications offer such features. Does it bother anyone else that the search feature tends to always have a magnifying glass even though it is searching outside of what you are looking at broadly while the find has a binnoculars and is searching with in what you are looking at finely? Who the heck originally set these icons as a standard?
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
I don't care about the icons, but I'd rather find, than search. Finding what you search for is the goal. Searching doesn't mean you'll find it. Therefore, find > search. The term "find" gives a user more confidence. *renames "search" page to "find".*
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I think the point is, who in their right mind would actually try to use binoculars to find something, or a magnifying glass to search for something?
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Many websites and applications offer such features. Does it bother anyone else that the search feature tends to always have a magnifying glass even though it is searching outside of what you are looking at broadly while the find has a binnoculars and is searching with in what you are looking at finely? Who the heck originally set these icons as a standard?
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
I would be interested to know how many readers share your distinction of search (expanding) vs. find (narrowing). While I'm not disagreeing with your definitions, I'd like to add that I haven't ever noticed that I use similar semantics: to me, search is synonymous with find. Also, in common usage (i.e. when talking with non-technical people, using those verbs in a context other than the internet & web sites) I've not noticed that other people make that distinction, either. RANT On the rare occasions when I use search on a web site (other than Bing or Google), I generally am cautious as to what to expect (site search vs. web search) ... and I'm also quite annoyed that I have to ask myself that question. A search field in a web site SHOULD ONLY EVER SEARCH THAT SITE (IMHO!) unless the site exists only to provide internet search (i.e. Gingle and Boob). END RANT So, if search === find, then the choice of icon present in the search/find box is, surely, meaningless. Further, if different people associate search/find to binoculars/magnifier icons differently, perhaps neither icon is appropriate for the purpose - because neither icon's 'orginal object's common value (making a view of things bigger ... bringing out details not otherwise visible) is close enough to the meaning of search or find (locating something that you anticipate being accessible, but you don't know where/how to find it - an interpretation that seems to apply equally to search and find).
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I don't care about the icons, but I'd rather find, than search. Finding what you search for is the goal. Searching doesn't mean you'll find it. Therefore, find > search. The term "find" gives a user more confidence. *renames "search" page to "find".*
ii_noname_ii wrote:
Finding what you search for is the goal. Searching doesn't mean you'll find it.
Therefore, find > search. The term "find" gives a user more confidence.And when I click "Find" and you tell me "no results found," you've lied to me. You can't promise that you'll find what I'm looking for. The best you can do is search for it.
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lewax00 wrote:
Binoculars allow you to carefully inspect a larger area than you could with just your eyes
Right... So if I am searching for a document with in a folder (the large area) it makes sence. However in this case we use Magnifying glasses. A magnifying glass allows one to bring to focus a desired area of something already in front of them. So it makes more sence IMO that it would be used on the find features.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
Absolutely, the icons are backwards. There are new factors as well. News sites are filtered by political and financial interests, the search & find icons could be an animated brian with soap being poured into it. For social networks, it could perhaps be an icon of someone wispering into anothers ear. lol
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I would be interested to know how many readers share your distinction of search (expanding) vs. find (narrowing). While I'm not disagreeing with your definitions, I'd like to add that I haven't ever noticed that I use similar semantics: to me, search is synonymous with find. Also, in common usage (i.e. when talking with non-technical people, using those verbs in a context other than the internet & web sites) I've not noticed that other people make that distinction, either. RANT On the rare occasions when I use search on a web site (other than Bing or Google), I generally am cautious as to what to expect (site search vs. web search) ... and I'm also quite annoyed that I have to ask myself that question. A search field in a web site SHOULD ONLY EVER SEARCH THAT SITE (IMHO!) unless the site exists only to provide internet search (i.e. Gingle and Boob). END RANT So, if search === find, then the choice of icon present in the search/find box is, surely, meaningless. Further, if different people associate search/find to binoculars/magnifier icons differently, perhaps neither icon is appropriate for the purpose - because neither icon's 'orginal object's common value (making a view of things bigger ... bringing out details not otherwise visible) is close enough to the meaning of search or find (locating something that you anticipate being accessible, but you don't know where/how to find it - an interpretation that seems to apply equally to search and find).
The only places I really see the "Find" feature as I am talking about use it to search a text document and then highlight what was found. e.g. VS has binoculars over a folder for their icon. The most resent vs of Adobe (that I am seeing) has a toolbar on the left using binoculars for its find. Not sure where but I have seen applications that term it "Find" and put the binoculars there. As for 'search' that is more commanly used for both seeking a phrase with in content and seeking 'new content'. However, when search is used you often see the magnifying glass. As someone pointed out, most users don't know the difference. Those that do however need to have seperate interfaces (or control) over which is running. Simply put we have 2 queries we want to run: Query for New Content Query on Current Content When broken down like this it seems obvious to me that the icons are wrong. Maybe neither icon should be used for the cases. But it just bugs me that if they are to be used they should be reversed. There is of course no going back though, so if anything we need new icons.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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Absolutely, the icons are backwards. There are new factors as well. News sites are filtered by political and financial interests, the search & find icons could be an animated brian with soap being poured into it. For social networks, it could perhaps be an icon of someone wispering into anothers ear. lol
Conan Callen wrote:
News sites are filtered by political and financial interests, the search & find icons could be an animated brian with soap being poured into it
:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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Many websites and applications offer such features. Does it bother anyone else that the search feature tends to always have a magnifying glass even though it is searching outside of what you are looking at broadly while the find has a binnoculars and is searching with in what you are looking at finely? Who the heck originally set these icons as a standard?
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
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Depends. Some would argue standards must be met for "correctness". I agree. It has no place for search or 'find' for that matter. It was already used as the zoom icon.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
After "browsing" my vast collection of icons, etc. I noticed a pattern: 1) "Zoom" (in / out) are limited to a magnifying glass with a plus or minus 2) "Find" is usually always a set of binoculars 3) "Search" is mostly a magnifying glass, but WITHOUT a plus or minus (and possibly leaning in the other direction). Also, "search" may have a "qualifying background"; as in: - a document, for searching for words in a document / page - a folder, for searching for a file / document within a folder - and so on. I could not find any "telescope" or "observatory" action-related icons though ... As in "search the heavens" :-\
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Thats a totally different issue. That is obsolecence of technology. This is misrepresentation. Its like clicking the "floppy" to email it and clicking the "snail mail" icon to save it.
Computers have been intelligent for a long time now. It just so happens that the program writers are about as effective as a room full of monkeys trying to crank out a copy of Hamlet.
I do like the detail of the camera, and you can tell it is a camera and not a smart phone.
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But it's used to study something in detail once it has been found. :-D
Maybe they should use a microscope? (Do they still use those?)
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Absolutely, the icons are backwards. There are new factors as well. News sites are filtered by political and financial interests, the search & find icons could be an animated brian with soap being poured into it. For social networks, it could perhaps be an icon of someone wispering into anothers ear. lol
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I hope you mean "brain" cause otherwise, Brian has something to worry about...
To Myself I Remain True
Ha, your right ... I did mean brain! My appologies to the Brian's of the world :)
