the resistor is undoubtably the most common component used, which is why we prefer the european symbol for them over the american one.
a rectangle is way quicker to draw and takes fewer strokes of the pencil than a long zigzag
-F
@Felthry I'd argue that a box is also more distinct from a coil shape
@noiob this is also a good advantage!
And then the european standard throws that away by making the symbol for an inductor also a box but filled in black this time, which is both less distinct (though still distinct enough) from the resistor than the US inductor symbol, and harder to draw with pen because you need to fill it in
-F
@Felthry hm, I think the convention is to draw a coil when drawing by hand
@noiob Yeah I suspect that one isn't actually used all that often--there's a few parts of the european electrical standards that people just don't seem to actually use outside of academic papers and stuff
-F