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。

　　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。