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> We've all simply memorized what a red octagon means. This is required learning to get a driver's license. If anyone doesn't know what a red octagon is, they

> We've all simply memorized what a red octagon means. This is required learning to get a driver's license. If anyone doesn't know what a red octagon is, they shouldn't be behind the wheel of a car. That same is true for any common symbol used in street signs. Music playback has pretty universal iconography. ▶ ⏏. I'm sure anyone who used a walkman or discman in their youth could readily tell you what all these icons mean. It doesn't seem unreasonable that standards could/should be made for cars as well. As the names for things get longer and longer, the words are too long for the button, so we need something else. > My keyboard still labels keys with "Enter", "Delete", "PgDn", "Shift", etc. That's because there's no icon that means it. Many of these do have symbols. Some keyboards include them. The symbols are commonly used in menus to indicate the shortcut for the command in the menu. "Enter" - ⏎ "Delete" - ⌦ "PgDn" - ⇟ "Shift" - ⇧ etc - https://www.webnots.com/alt-code-shortcuts-for-keyboard-key-symbols/ https://www.webnots.com/alt-code-shortcuts-for-keyboard-key-... These were established decades ago and widely used to this day. Page Down isn't so widely used, but neither is that key in general. Here is a Thinkpad keyboard that uses many of them. https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/SuQsONNAdfeYp1ZV.large https://guide-images.cdn.ifixit.com/igi/SuQsONNAdfeYp1ZV.lar...

WalterBright 2y ago
Those are all learned, they are not obvious pictures. There's a limit to how far one can go with this, which is why pictographic written languages evolved into phonetic ones, again and again.
- al_borland 2y ago
  Everything is learned, even language. Phonetic languages are great when space is unlimited. Only so much can fit on a button, and a picture is worth a thousand words.
  - WalterBright 2y ago
    If pictures are better, why do picture languages nearly always evolve to phonetic ones? What's the picture for "go" ? What's the picture for "dog" as opposed to a picture for collie? There are one million words in the English language. Are you going to memorize them all? Picture languages simply do not work.
    - al_borland 2y ago
      We're not talking about developing an entire language, we're talking about a button to let someone turn features in their car on and off. An icon can be used globally, just translate the owner's manual instead of making thousand of different cars where the only change is the language on the buttons.

WalterBright 2y ago

Those are all learned, they are not obvious pictures. There's a limit to how far one can go with this, which is why pictographic written languages evolved into phonetic ones, again and again.

al_borland 2y ago
Everything is learned, even language. Phonetic languages are great when space is unlimited. Only so much can fit on a button, and a picture is worth a thousand words.
- WalterBright 2y ago
  If pictures are better, why do picture languages nearly always evolve to phonetic ones? What's the picture for "go" ? What's the picture for "dog" as opposed to a picture for collie? There are one million words in the English language. Are you going to memorize them all? Picture languages simply do not work.
  - al_borland 2y ago
    We're not talking about developing an entire language, we're talking about a button to let someone turn features in their car on and off. An icon can be used globally, just translate the owner's manual instead of making thousand of different cars where the only change is the language on the buttons.