I think the recent xkcd about symbols is very relevant here, interestingly. As more and more folks were having fun with icons, whether fonts or otherwise, to represent things, it is hilarious how many more slight variations of a symbol I had to learn. Only to usually have sites revert back to using the words at some point.
That is, arguing that symbols are random seems silly. The whole point is that there is a large base of agreed upon symbols affixed with meanings already. They can even be combined to form different already agreed upon symbols.
http://xkcd.com/1306/
That is, arguing that symbols are random seems silly. The whole point is that there is a large base of agreed upon symbols affixed with meanings already. They can even be combined to form different already agreed upon symbols.