Origins of the 11 Commonly Used User Interface Symbols

I found this really nerdy infographic designed together by Warm Gun and 500 Startups detailing the history behind the common UI symbols used in today's world such as the Power, Bluetooth, and Ethernet symbols.

The complexities of technology has made our lives much easier. Can you imagine a world without the internet, your phone, and other electronic devices?

Indeed, technology has become part of our daily life and because of that, most of us don't notice the very small details such as the fact that the symbols for power, play, pause, Bluetooth, USB, and Ethernet are all the same across all devices regardless of brand.

Now that I think about it, life will become very complicated if these manufacturers made their own UI symbols instead of utilizing standards.

The original infographic is quite large and I was having a hard time reading it so I cut it into readable pieces. Dear designers, I'm sorry if I massacr*d your wonderful creation.

Anyway, if you want to see the original version, just visit this link.

The Power Icon

The Ethernet Symbol

The Bluetooth

The Pause

The Play Icon

The USB Symbol

Sleep Symbol

FireWire

The origin of @

The story behind the Apple key

Wait Symbol