I use the compose key a lot; when writing docs I tend to use → instead of ->, I use – instead of -, etc. I have an extensive XCompose set up for all this, and I find it very convenient.
But it's still three keystrokes instead of one. I wouldn't really look forward to using × instead of *, ÷ instead of /, etc. all the time, even though I can type them here with relative ease the hassle increases the more you use it (I don't tend to bother with fancy “quotes” for example).
I also don't think it really matters all that much. What's wrong with *? Sure, × looks nicer, but * is clearly the pragmatic choice.*
BTW: there is another obstacle aside from typing issues: readability problems and similarities between operators and ordinary characters with computer fonts.
In case of manually written math equations (or LaTeX-ones) operators are easy distinguishable from arguments. They have a different sizes too.
For example, "result = axe" and "result = a×e" in many cases looks the same and, even in my browser, with font larger, than ones usually used by my colleagues, they are very hard to distinguish. Difference between "result a÷n" and "result a-b" can be spot easier, but it depends on two one-pixel dots.
Ok that was only a mumbling of malcontent - in fact we all know that we all have a sharp, young eyes and we never will be tired or distracted, I'm pretty sure of that. ;)
I would imagine that tooling such as syntax highlighting and decent errors should alleviate that sufficiently to not be a serious practical problem.
But yeah, I read over the "axe" and "a×e" difference on my first read (and I browse HN at quite a large zoom by default, not because of vision issues, I just like larger text as a matter of personal preference).
Either way, I don't really see the significant advantages in the first place. In spite of the article and some of the strong words of some in this thread ("horrendous", "embarrassing", etc.), I don't see the problem is with just sticking to ASCII. The only case I've seen is where it would have been nice is when «T» was briefly considered for Go generics instead of <T> (later changed to [T]) to avoid overloading the existing meanings of <> and []. I actually would have liked that. But / vs ÷? shrug.
But it's still three keystrokes instead of one. I wouldn't really look forward to using × instead of *, ÷ instead of /, etc. all the time, even though I can type them here with relative ease the hassle increases the more you use it (I don't tend to bother with fancy “quotes” for example).
I also don't think it really matters all that much. What's wrong with *? Sure, × looks nicer, but * is clearly the pragmatic choice.*