@monorail this always confused me. like...
...if you just put redstone dust down, with no other neighbours... WHY would it be a cross? because then you have to sweep up the excess to put it back in the right configuration.
...It makes WAY more sense for it to just be like, a small pile that you can push into the right configuration when you 'wire' up more of it.
@Nine @monorail the cross shows that you can connect stuff on all sides