Every day, using every device we own, we instantly recognize a group of symbols that tell us exactly what their function and context is. Bluetooth, USB, pause, play, power and many more are part of our lives. Ever wondered where these ubiquitous symbols came from? Did you know that the Bluetooth symbol is the runic initials of a Danish King born in 935? You did? Skip this then.
Its plastered on shirts; it tells you which button will start your Prius; it’s even been used on
condom wrappers. As far back back as World War II engineers used the binary system to label individual power buttons, toggles and rotary switches: A 1 meant “on,” and a 0 meant off. In 1973, the International Electrotechnical Commission vaguely codified a broken circle with a line inside it as “standby power state,” and sticks to that story even now. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, however, decided that was too vague, and altered the definition to simply mean power. Hell yeah, IEEE,
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