I think this is something that should be done, but I sense that fragmented circles are more of a "flat" reaction to iconography of obsolete technology. But obsolete technology generally makes for good, intuitive icons. I don't think the up and down arrows are especially good at conveying things either, especially since they'll probably be paired with other up and down icons that mean other things (like disclose menus, scroll, etc). Maybe the new generation has never seen a floppy, but they also haven't seen a magnifying glass, an hourglass, or a rotary phone, yet they've managed to learn them as part of the visual vocabulary of computing.

I'm not a designer, but I think most of the ideas on display here are fashion-forward dead ends.