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Apple's icons and designs are a big deal. Part of Apple's design philosophy is to keep things simple: The company believes that users shouldn't need instructions on how to operate its gadgets, it should just be obvious.
苹果图标及其设计可是一件大事。苹果秉承至简的设计理念：公司相信用户不需要使用手册就能清楚地知道如何使用产品。

One way Apple has achieved that is by using a series of longstanding icons that we've all come to recognize.
苹果公司设计的一些图标被长期使用，并得到了广泛认可。 

A lot of Apple's icons have decidedly vintage, non-digital origins. We bet you don't know what the curly square on the command key started out as, for example ...
很多苹果的图标来源其实都是“老古董”，并非数码时代的新兴产物。我猜，你可能并不知道苹果键盘上的命令键的图案到底是什么意思。

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You've probably never thought twice about the Apple "command" key on the lower left portion of your keyboard. But where does that curly square symbol come from?
你可能从来没有想过苹果键盘上命令键的图案到底是什么玩意，你知道它是从哪里来的吗？

It's actually taken from a Swedish road sign used to indicate tourist attractions.
事实上，这一图样取自于北欧常用的一个道路指示图，用于给游客指明方向。

The story goes that Steve Jobs became annoyed that the Apple symbol was being used too much on devices in 1983. So bitmap artist Susan Kare looked through a book of international symbols to replace the Apple command, and picked one that denotes campground attractions and ancient monuments in Scandinavia. It's been there ever since.
故事还要从1983年说起。当时，设计者给苹果电脑的键盘设计了一个与苹果Logo相近的“苹果键”，这让史蒂夫乔布斯大为光火。于是，点阵图设计师Susan Kare挑选了这个在瑞典用于指示野营地点和古迹的图案作为新的按钮设计方案。

It is sometimes also called the pretzel key.
它有时候也被称为“pretzel”键——意即椒盐脆饼键。

沪江小编：其实小编觉得这个图案很像是中国结，跟联通的标志也有点像。沪友，你怎么看？

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Why is the "return" key so named?
这个标成“返回”的回车键又是怎么回事呢？

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Originally, the "carriage return" was the lever on a typewriter you had to pull to start a new line of words on the page.
这一按键名称来源于老式的打字机，每当一行字打完之后，需要使用一下打字机上的“返回”杠杆，来返回到下一行的行首。

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Why do Apple's "play," "stop" and "fast forward" buttons look that way?
常见的“播放”、“停止”、“快进”键又是怎么来的呢？为什么播放键是一个向右的三角？

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They come from the days when recordings were made on tape. The reason the "play" arrow faces right is because tapes used to spool from left to right when played.
它们的设计方案来自于磁带播放器上的固有设计。之所以“播放键”是从左向右的三角，是因为磁带在播放的时候是顺时针方向并且里面的磁条从左向右传送。

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Ever wondered where the Siri (or voice dictation) icon comes from?
是不是从来都没想过Siri图标或者说语音输入图标的来历？

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It's a stylized version of a vintage microphone from the early 20th Century.
这个一般人都知道，取材于20世纪初所使用的老式麦克风的造型。不过随着科技的进步，这一笨重的产品只会越来越少见。

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This icon tells you how much power you have left in your phone. In real life, however ...
电量图标为什么设计成这样？

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Apple's batteries look nothing like the traditional battery symbol it uses. In most Apple products, you can't even see the batteries.
苹果的电池长得和传统电池一点也不像。事实上，在绝大多数的苹果产品里，都用不着这样的电池。

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If you haven't examined the App Store icon closely you might not have noticed that ...
如果你仔细观察过苹果应用商店的图标的话，你就会发现......

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It's not simply a capital "A." It's a pencil, brush and ruler arranged into the form of an "A."
它不仅仅是一个大写的字母A，它实际是由一支铅笔、一支笔刷和一把尺子所构成的字母A的造型。