It's hard to imagine now, but early computers didn't have them. They used 'command line interfaces': lines of written commands scrolling down the screen. The virtual desktop with icons we know today was created by Xerox in the 1970s. They established conventions we still use: a document was symbolised by a blank sheet of paper with one corner folded, a directory was a card folder with a tab on top, a picture of a trash can meant 'delete' and a closed envelope indicated an unread email.
As technology improved, it was possible to move away from the early, simple black and white signs to full colour and more realistic images. But we still love the simple when it comes to icons. All the designs on the Noun Project site are clean black and white line drawings, and there are nostalgic fan sites dedicated to old-school computer icons from the 70s and 80s.
But things are harder for designers today. Modern devices have many functions and require more icons, making it harder to avoid confusion. Take the arrow. It's an old and well-used symbol but in a modern operating system, an arrow can mean drop down menu, undo, redo, sort, cursor, play video, change text direction and move to next item - to name just a few uses.
It's clear we need icons more than ever. So what makes a successful one? As well as simple lines and unique shape, an icon needs to be universal, so plays on words don't work well. An early Apple icon of a cat meaning copy (from the English 'copycat') was soon dropped because it was confusing to non-English speakers. But it might be impossible to be truly international. Most computers indicate time passing from left to right, with the past on the left and the future on the right. That's logical for English speakers, but not for people who write right to left like Arabic speakers.
Quiz 測驗 1. According to the article, which company introduced the virtual desktop and icons?
Xerox.
2. Is the following statement true, false or not given? Computer icons were introduced in the 1960s.
False. They were introduced in the 1970s.
3. Were the first computer icons in colour?
They were black and white.
4. Name one example from the article, of a place where you see pictorial instructions.
Instant noodles or emergency exits.
5. According to the article, do icons which are a play on words work well?
No, because they aren't internationally understood.
Glossary 词汇表 symbol for某物的象徵 icons圖標 bank庫（如數據等） a tall order一項艱巨的任務 pictorial instructions圖片說明 a screenful of滿屏的，整屏的 commands（計算機）指令 scrolling down向下滾動 virtual desktop虛擬桌面 established conventions既定慣例 symbolised by被…代表 indicated標示出 realistic images逼真的圖像 line drawings線條畫 nostalgic懷舊的 functions功能 confusion疑惑 ，困惑 operating system操作系統 to name just a few僅舉幾個例子 universal全球（通用） 的 logical有邏輯的
