Comments on: Who invented the Pause icon?

Question: Who invented the Pause icon?

billder — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 08:38:21 -0800

Any idea which device first used two vertical bars to represent "pause"?

I'm researching the history of icons and am trying to track down the first pause icon. I've found plenty of play, rewind, fast forward icons on reel-to-reels and similar devices, but the pause icon is eluding me. My hunch is it was a cassette player, but nothing confirmed yet. Thanks.

By: jellicle

jellicle — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 08:46:54 -0800

You should probably consult this previous thread about tape transport symbols.

By: louigi

louigi — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 09:42:05 -0800

Could it have something to do with the symbol for a capacitor (which is basically the same)? A capacitor is a bit like a pause button, they both cause something to stop for a while.

By: pyramid termite

pyramid termite — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 10:49:17 -0800

it's possible that this may have started with talking book recorders for the blind ... these have an "I" on the pause button ... the first ones were made in the early 70s ... photos of previous cassette machines have pause buttons, but not the II symbol on them

By: limeonaire

limeonaire — Sun, 23 Apr 2006 12:25:18 -0800

I don't know where the first pause icon appeared—but as for the symbol's origins, could it stem from bar lines in musical notation? A single bar line (vertical line spanning all the horizontal lines on the staff) denotes the end of a measure, and a double bar line (where both lines are the same weight) indicates the end of a section in the music. (See here.)

Also, multiple-measure rests in music are indicated by a long thick line with a small vertical line at each end. (See here.)

By: speicus

speicus — Mon, 24 Apr 2006 03:41:17 -0800

Actually this reminds me more of the caesura symbol in music, often called "train tracks." It looks like this: || but often slanted to the right. It's also used to mark pauses in verse. I seem to remember it serves some purpose in legal documents as well? Anyway, I'm willing to bet it's an ancestor of the pause button symbol. But where the caesura symbol itself comes from, I'm not sure.