Key symbols we lost to time, pt. 2: The Mac side
Recorded: Sept. 20, 2026, 3:08 p.m.
| Original | Summarized |
Key symbols we lost to time, pt. 2: The Mac side – Unsung Software craft and quality Newsletter Get a newsletter digest every Friday: Other ways to follow Subscribe via RSS Follow on Mastodon Follow on Bluesky Get a newsletter digest every Friday: Subscribe via RSS Other ways to follow Contact Send me feedback, tips, bug reports, and anything else: Mastodon Bluesky About me and the blog My name is Marcin Wichary. I’ve worked as a UX designer, typographer, front-end person, and manager at Google, Medium, and Figma. I’ve also written a book about keyboards and typing, gave talks, and published essays about design, typography, and technology. Unsung is my blog about software craft and quality. More info about Unsung Send me feedback, tips, bug reports, and anything else: Mastodon Bluesky More info about Unsung Continued from part 1 The relationship between keyboard manufacturers and standards bodies in various countries is so complex I barely understand a snippet of it. (I know. Jump scare!) There was also the Japanese JIS standard keyboard, which famously kept Control where older terminals had it – to, no doubt, delight of Japan’s programmers: These are the three well-known layout standards. The one for Canada followed Europe, but only to a point. The layout was the same, but the symbols weren’t: Here’s an alternate view of the European and Canadian keyboards, and you can see that the latter one introduces different, unique symbols for Ctrl, Alt, Tab, Caps Lock… …and even goes as far as Esc. (The Esc symbol is roughly the same you see worldwide, but for some reason, Apple always shied away from putting it on even symbol-friendly keyboards – even though frustratingly it’s being used in macOS menus in all the locales.) Canada, with its abundance of icons, makes Europe feel like America: Even the arrows are different – here’s America vs. Canada: Even the Enter arrow – here’s Europe vs. Canada: And numeric Enter/Return gets a different shape, too: I don’t really know what is the full story here. I imagine the government exerted some pressure and Apple relented, creating a unique set of keyboards with some really ugly icons. You can see all the same symbols… …and even the extra glyph for Num Lock I imagine was prescribed for the PC side, too: And, closer to the present, I have seen examples of the first metal keyboard from the late 2000s, too. But I don’t believe these symbols are used today. Even in their heyday, I’m not sure whether they were sold in the whole of Canada, or just its French-speaking portion – if you know, please share. But there’s one more symbol that might be interesting to talk about, and perhaps you already spotted it above. It’s here, on the Japanese keyboard: This time around no standard was involved; I believe that the pencil on the Control key is solely Apple’s invention. What is it for, and why was it there just in Japan? Typing in Japanese might be among the most complex, requiring switching between a few writing systems – katakana, hiragana, kanji, and also Western letters – as fluently as possible. To help with that, Apple used a system called Kotoeri, and added a new alternative symbol for Control that was also present onscreen, in the relevant typing menus: The system was there in the waning years of classic Mac OS and early years of Mac OS X. Newer post Older post |
The author, Marcin Wichary, explores the complex relationship between keyboard manufacturers, standards bodies, and geographical localization, using the history of Apple keyboards as a central example. He notes the intricate nature of these relationships, citing the 1990s PowerBooks which utilized regional keyboard variants, such as a beige option for Germany, to comply with local laws regarding color and contrast to mitigate ergonomic issues for terminal operators. Wichary focuses further on less known keyboard variants, particularly those for Canada in the late 1990s and early 2000s, referencing the design of the white 2003 keyboard as a notable example. He contrasts the established layout standards of the US, Europe, and Canada, emphasizing how different regions implemented variations for symbols like Control, Alt, Tab, Caps Lock, and Esc, as well as the shapes of navigation symbols like arrows and the Enter/Return key. The author speculates that government pressure may have influenced Apple to adopt unique, perhaps less aesthetically pleasing, icons in these localized keyboards. The discussion expands to the evolution of keyboard design, noting the AppleDesign keyboard from the late 1990s and subsequent metal keyboards, observing that these specific symbols are no longer in use today. He references modern standards such as the CSA or ACNOR keyboards, of which the symbols are represented in Unicode. Wichary reflects on the potential internal conflict within Apple regarding the inclusion of these symbols alongside refined typography. A distinct point of focus is the Japanese keyboard, which presented a different case. In the context of complex Japanese typing, which involves switching between multiple writing systems like katakana, hiragana, and kanji, Apple utilized a system called Kotoeri and introduced an alternative symbol for Control that appeared on-screen in relevant menus. This Kotoeri system existed in the final years of classic Mac OS and early Mac OS X. Over time, Apple removed the slightly pixellated symbol from the keyboards, reverting to a standard Control symbol in the user interface. Wichary suggests that while Kotoeri is no longer in Mac OS X, the underlying necessity for alternative input methods remains, a scenario today addressed by emoji usage. He concludes by noting that Apple has recently reintroduced related concepts, such as the 🌐/Fn key, in response to evolving user needs. |