The document discusses the origins and meanings of various technology symbols. It explains that the power symbol originated from binary labeling of switches as "on" or "off" and was later standardized. The pause symbol draws from musical notation and electrical diagrams. The at symbol originated as a Latin character used by monks and was adopted for email addresses. Bluetooth's symbol represents the runes in its namesake's initials. The document provides context for many other common tech symbols as well.

1. Tech Symbols – Origin and
Meaning
Dr Sanjoy Sanyal
Sanjoy.sanyal@bath.edu
The background watermark symbol signifies world peace. It has been created
from the picture of the same statue in Omaha Beach that was erected after WW-II

2. Power
Supply
• Since WW-II: Engineers used the Binary System to
label Power Buttons, Toggle Switches and Rotary
Switches
• Binary System: ‘1’ means ‘On’ and ‘0’ means ‘Off’
• International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC),
1973: Designed a symbol (‘0’ broken at the top
with a ‘1’) to denote a ‘Standby’ power state,
indicating an intermediate state between ‘On’
and ‘Off’
• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
(IEEE): Considered the symbol and its definition
confusing (see next slide); They redefined this
symbol to simply mean ‘Power’ supply
• This is the currently accepted international
standard symbol for Power supply
See next slide for
why IEEE
considered the
term ‘Standby’
confusing and not
only replaced the
term ‘Standby’
but also
redesigned the
symbol

3. Sleep• ‘Standby’ power state: As defined by the IEC, was
confusing and counter-intuitive (previous slide)
• How can an electronic device be neither ‘On’ or
‘Off’, and be in an intermediate state between ‘On’
and ‘Off’?
• IEEE: Replaced the term ‘Standby’ with ‘Sleep’,
when the PC stays on but uses low power (2nd and
3rd pictures), like a sleeping human
• Crescent Moon: de facto symbol of ‘Sleep’ state of
devices in the Western world, to represent the
state humans are supposed to be when such a
moon is high up in the sky
• To carry the metaphorical wit one step further,
some devices in Japan sport the ‘ZZZ’ button!
Computers
today have
replaced the
‘Standby’
button with
‘Sleep’ button

4. Play• The large right-pointing arrow indicates
‘Play’ (1st and 2nd pictures)
• The small double right-pointing arrows
indicate ‘Fast forward’ (2nd picture)
• The small double left-pointing arrows
indicate ‘Rewind’ (2nd picture)
• Mid-60s Tapes: These symbols 1st appeared
as tape transport symbols in reel tape decks
• They are intuitive; the direction of arrow
indicates direction of tape movement
• Digital Devices: They were imported into
digital audio / video media devices (real or
virtual) from their analog counterparts
Nobody is very
clear about the
exact origin of
‘Play’ symbol

5. Pause• Historical Analogy: The caesura in poetry
indicates a ‘Pause’ (Greek / Latin verse: A
break between words; Modern verse: A
pause near the middle of a line)
• Musical Analogy: The ‘Pause’ symbol
may have originated from musical
notations
• Tech Analogy: Some say it is simply a
‘Stop’ symbol with a central vertical strip
missing (2nd and 3rd pictures)
• Electrical Circuit Analogy: Some have
likened it to the notation for an open
connection in a electrical circuit diagram

6. ‘at’ /
‘at the
rate of’
• Synonyms: The Snail (France / Italy); The Little Mouse
(China); The Monkey’s Tail (Germany)
• 6th Century Monks: Used this symbol to depict the
word ‘ad’ (Latin for ‘at’ or ‘toward’) to prevent
confusion with AD (Anno Domini), the years after Christ
• American Underwood, 1885: Underwood Typewriters
had a key with this symbol, which was used as an
accounting shorthand symbol meaning ‘at the rate of’
• Raymond Tomlinson, 1971: Programmer in Bolt,
Beranek & Neuman (BBN) and inventor of Email;
Needed a symbol in computer network addresses to
separate the User(name) from the Domain name
• Tech Notation: For want of a better notation Ray
inserted the ‘@’ symbol and the rest is history; It
became a very potent symbol in the digital world
This symbol is
so potent that
one can type
any gibberish
with the ‘@’
and MS Office ™
will convert it
into a link
zxsg@pglg.xy

7. Ethernet• This is the Ethernet port symbol
• Ethernet Inventor: Bob Metcalfe
• Symbol Designer: David Hill of IBM
• Hill’s symbol drew inspiration from
Metcalfe’s earliest Ethernet sketches
• Tech Meaning: It is part of a set of symbols
all designed to depict the Local Area
Networks (LANs) available at that time
• Each array of blocks represent a Computer
or Terminal
• True to its designation, the blocks are
purposely arranged non-hierarchically
Ethernet is a family
of computer
networking
technologies for
local area networks
(LANs) and MANs
(metropolitan area
networks). It was
commercially
introduced in 1980
and 1st standardized
in 1983 as IEEE 802.3

8. Bluetooth• This is the symbol for Bluetooth technology
• Origin: Named after 10th century Danish king,
Harald ‘Blåtand’ (Danish / Swedish for ‘Blue tooth’)
• Historical Fact: Harald united warring factions in
parts of Norway, Sweden and Denmark
• Tech Analogy: Similarly, Bluetooth technology
allows cable-free connections between computers,
mobile phones, PDAs, printers, etc.
• Other aspects of the symbolic interplay:
– Harald had one blue-stained tooth (some say he was
fond of blueberries; Some say he had a bad tooth)
– The symbol is also a combination of the 2 alphabets
(Nordic runes) that represent Harald’s initials
– The 1st Bluetooth receptor had ‘teeth-like’ shape (like the
symbol itself) and was blue in color
Nordic runes: H
(hagall) in 1st figure
and B (berkanan) in
2nd figure

9. USB• This is the USB (Universal Serial Bus)
icon, created as part of USB 1.0 spec
• Mythology: Icon is based on Poseidon’s
Trident (right lower) or Neptune’s
Dreizack or Lord Shiva’s Trishul (left
picture)
• Design: In lieu of pointed tips of the
mythical 3-pronged spear, the USB
promoters converted the tips into a
triangle, square and circle, attached to
the stem asymmetrically
• Tech Significance: Varying shapes signify
the various different peripherals that
could be connected to a computer using
this technical standard
Poseidon (right lower picture)
and Lord Shiva (left picture)

10. FireWire• Apple Inc. 1995: Developers designed the
FireWire symbol to reflect the new FireWire
technology they were working on
• Original Technology: Originally intended to
be a serial alternative to SCSI (Small
Computer System Interface)
• Current FireWire: Now it promises high-
speed connectivity for digital audio and
video equipment
• Design: So the symbol was designed with 3
arms, representing Audio, Video and Data
• Originally it was red; later it was changed to
yellow (for obscure reasons)

11. • Command symbol (1st picture) in Apple Mac keyboard (2nd picture)
• Synonyms: Gorgon loop, The Splat, Infinite sign, ‘Place of Interest Sign’
(according to the Unicode Standard)
• Andy Hertzfeld (of the original Mac team): Wanted to create a special
function ‘Apple key’ that would transfer menu commands directly to the
keyboard, when pressed in combination with other keys
• Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple Inc.): ‘Apple key’ originally had the Apple
logo (3rd picture above); Steve hated the fact that the Apple logo was being
used everywhere (“We are taking the Apple logo in vain!”) – Enter Susan!!
• Susan Kare (bitmap artist): Selected the floral symbol from an international
symbol dictionary, indicating a ‘noteworthy attraction’ in a Swedish
campground; It became the Command symbol on Mac keyboards
Command

12. Hung
Program
• Indicates a program is not responding to system
commands
• Appears like a pretty spinning wheel with almost
hypnotic qualities, but arouses resentment in
Apple users and generally evokes an expletive!
• Synonyms: Hypnowheel of Doom; Spinning Pizza;
Pinwheel of Death; SBBOD (Spinning Beach Ball of
Death); ‘Spinning Wait Cursor’ (Apple’s official
terminology)
• Design: SBBOD evolved from wristwatch ‘wait’
cursor that Apple first used in earlier Mac OS
• Apple subsequently dropped the wristwatch
because it reminded users of the time passing as
the program remained perpetually hung up
• Current symbol first appeared in Apple OSX