Thread: Origin of those Signs

User interface icons help us operate technology. Some are obvious; others seem illogical. One survived a near-death experience, one involves a Danish king, and others depict objects on their way to becoming relics. Here’s a brief history of the lines and circles we find on our computers, on our phones, and in our software, courtesy of the Harvard Business Review.


The Immortal @STILL KICKING AFTER 1,500 YEARS



GO AHEAD, COUNT HOW MANY times you press the @ key each day.

It’s arguably one of the most used symbols on our devices, required for both e-mail and tweets. But the “at” swirl, known as a “snail” in Italy and a “monkey tail” in the Netherlands, was almost relegated to typewriter oblivion.Before we get to that story, a brief history courtesy of Smithsonian Magazine and New York’s Museum of Modern Art, which houses an entire @ collection: As far back as the sixth century, @ was used as a ligature to combine the letters of the Latin preposition ad (meaning “at” or “to”) into one pen stroke. The symbol evolved over time and was used in Venetian trade dealings to indicate an amphora, a jar used by merchants as a unit of measure, and by Spanish traders to mean arroba, another unit of measure. Eventually it came to mean “at the rate of,” as in “12 peaches @ $1.50—for a total of $18.”By 1885 the symbol appeared on the American Underwood typewriter. It was a mainstay on keyboards for the next century, though it was used less and less over time.Then in 1971 came Ray Tomlinson to pull @ out of its obscurity. Charged by the tech R&D company Bolt, Beranek and Newman with developing a way to send messages between computers on the ARPAnet, he decided to use the symbol in an early e-mail because it naturally implied location—and was already on keyboards. No one ever used it, so it was ready for a new role.

POWER



During World War II, according to Gizmodo, engineers started using a binary system to label power buttons: 1 meant “on,” and 0 meant “off.” That system evolved into this icon, created by the International Electrotechnical Commission,which combines both numerals. The IEC intended it to mean “stand by,” but the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers later put forward a different definition: “power.”


COMMAND



We all know this indicates a shortcut on the Mac keyboard, but why? It goes back to a decision by Steve Jobs in 1983 to make the Apple logo less ubiquitous. Until then, the key was marked by the Macintosh fruit, but Jobs felt it was overkill. (“We’re taking the Apple logo in vain!” he declared.) A member of the original Macdevelopment team, Andy Hertzfeld, along with designer Susan Kare, wound up choosing this looped square (also known as St. John’s Arms) after leafing through a dictionary of symbols. In ancient times it was put on homes and utensils to ward off bad luck, and it’s still used as a “local attraction” sign across Northern Europe.



BLUETOOTH



The symbol for a short-distance wireless connection is derived from two runes representing the initials of King Harald Bluetooth, who ruled areas of Denmark and Norway in the 10th century. Bluetooth was famous for uniting the Danish tribes; his technological counterpart is a way to unite devices through the exchange of signals. The name was suggested by Intel’s Jim Kardach, who was part of a multicompany working group, and was intended to be temporary. But when the technology had to launch quickly, the group decided to go with “Bluetooth” until the marketing folks could come up with something better. They never did.



USB



This icon looks nothing like the tangled mass of cords near many of our computers, but it’s generally thought to be based on Neptune’s trident, with the circle, triangle, and square indicating different types of electronic devices that
can be connected.



FIREWIRE



Used to indicate a way to rapidly transfer data between devices, the FireWire symbol was designed by Apple in 1995. The three prongs represent video, audio, and data.



ETHERNET



Designed by IBM’s David Hill, this icon resembles three connected computers, and that’s the point. It was intended to depict a network of multiple devices. As Gizmodo points out, the symbol looks a lot like Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe’s early sketches of the system.


The entire article from whence this came

Signs of the Times - Harvard Business Review


...and finally, not part of the HBR article...

^^^ Watford boy too.

Probally not met.
Used to work just off St Albans Rd and lived just past Bushey.

Played snooker every Friday night at Queens Rd just from the centre of town (through the underpass by the Harlequin)

Not gonna tell you where my house was because it would probally scare you off.