# Origins of those Media Player Symbols **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 6, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679 "2012-01-06T23:28:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/1 "2012-01-06T23:28:46Z")
You know the ones I mean: the right arrow for play, the square box for stop, double vertical parallel lines for pause, red circle for record, etc. This question came up when I was discussing (arguing) with my 73 yr old father about the meanings of all those symbols on his DVD remote (again). All of my life, he has never been able to keep them straight. It would be funny if it wasn’t so frustrating. His defense is that they’re just too abstract. My counter-argument was that these symbols have been standard at least since the 1970s so he’s had plenty of time to just memorize them by rote. Which raises the question: When did these symbols first appear? Were they developed for a specific technology or did they just organically evolve? I imagine they first showed up on reel-to-reel tapes but that’s just an educated guess. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/2 "2012-01-06T23:52:07Z")
> [@Hodge](#): > > I imagine they first showed up on reel-to-reel tapes but that’s just an educated guess. That’s where i first saw them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were developed by Sony. I was familiar with many RTR audio and video recorders in the 1960s and '70s, and I associate the ones you mention mostly with Sony. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/3 "2012-01-06T23:56:21Z")
My impression is the same. They were on all the cassette tape player-recorders I ever saw. I’m surprised they’re do difficult to remember. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/4 "2012-01-07T00:29:05Z")
After look over pictures of many old tape recorders, it seems as though the earliest models simply used text. And arrow symbols for play, FF, and rewind were fairly obvious and common. The most distinctive symbols seem to me to be the square for stop and the double lines for pause. I have no hard evidence at this point, but, as I said, I wouldn’t be surprised if an unsung designer at Sony came up with them. ---
**Author:** ![Hodge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Hodge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hodge)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/5 "2012-01-07T00:30:22Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I’m surprised they’re do difficult to remember. I’ve given up trying to figure it out. He’s an engineer who’s still working, uses computers everyday and has developed literally hundreds of spreadsheets and BASIC programs to do his calculations. But when it comes to home electronics his brain just hits a wall. When something doesn’t work, he mashes buttons randomly, mutters under his breath or swears loudly depending on the time of day and then calls me to rescue him. Sigh. > [@commasense](#): > > I was familiar with many RTR audio and video recorders in the 1960s and '70s, and I associate the ones you mention mostly with Sony. That was my suspicion. Another question: Were there any early alternative symbols that got weeded out in a Darwinian home electronics cage match or did Sony just get it right out of the gate? ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/6 "2012-01-07T00:31:42Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > That’s where i first saw them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were developed by Sony. I was familiar with many RTR audio and video recorders in the 1960s and '70s, and I associate the ones you mention mostly with Sony. I just don’t recall the first machines with the symbols replacing (or supplementing) the spelled-out words, but among reasonable guesses would be: Ampex Wollensak Teac Tandberg Roberts Akai Concord Panasonic I won’t argue with Sony, but I won’t bet on them either. The first reel-to-reel recorder I can remember was in the 50’s and I forget the brand. Anybody remember Dictaphone? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/7 "2012-01-07T00:39:13Z")
I thought Ampex was the first reel tape maker. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/8 "2012-01-07T00:40:11Z")
I’m old enough to remember Dictaphone 🙂 And I was the proud third or fourth owner of a huge old Wollensack RTR. Solid METAL (none of this plastic junk!) that must’ve weighed 40 lbs. I used to record the “Top 40” as played by WLS and WCFL in Chicago … right when the Beatles hit U.S. shores. Back when radio was radio … Uher is I think also fairly venerable. High-end German. ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/9 "2012-01-07T01:36:59Z")
This past thread might be of interest: [Origin of play, stop, pause, etc. buttons?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=493618) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/10 "2012-01-07T02:31:57Z")
Having read that thread, I have the following comment – I always thought that the pause symbol was the stop square with a gap though the middle. So something like an incomplete stop. And also, my tape deck from the 1990s has play buttons in both directions, so it doesn’t have to point to the right to indicate play. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2012, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-those-media-player-symbols/608679/11 "2012-01-07T04:43:56Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I thought Ampex was the first reel tape maker. Correct, and the pictures I’ve seen of the first Ampex recorder ([Model 200](http://http://reel2reeltexas.com/Ampex200300rm06.jpg)), seem to show English words, not symbols. (The buttons are just buttons with no symbols; the text is engraved above.) The same seems to be true of several other US brands from the 50s. It stands to reason that when international companies (like Sony) got into the market, they’d use symbols instead of words to increase usability across borders. US companies weren’t as focused on international business in the 1950s and '60s, and so simply used English text. (I’m gratified to note in the previous thread that the earliest usage of the square for stop appears on a Sony, as I’ve been positing.)