Anyone who has ever used a computer, or any piece of electronics equipment for that matter, has encountered at least some of these recognizable graphics symbols. But how many are familiar with the origins of these symbols? Bryan Gardiner over at the Wired website investigates:
\"It\u2019s plastered on T-shirts; it tells you which button will start your Prius; it\u2019s even been used on NYC 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 \u201Con,\u201D and a 0 meant off. In 1973, the International Electrotechnical Commission vaguely codified a broken circle with a line inside it as \u201Cstandby power state,\u201D 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. Way to take a stand.\"
You can read more about the article over at the following link:
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2010/08/computer-symbols-history/all/1
