The command/apple (also know as open apple/clover/infinite) key has graced the keyboards of millions of computers since the Apple II family and right through to 2007.

The key made it’s first appearance on the Apple II family. The IIe included two apple keys - known as the open apple and closed apple keys (because one was clear filled, and the other solid). The open apple key can been seen as the beginning of what we know as the command key today.

While the Macintosh was in development Steve Jobs is said to have insisted on inventing a new symbol to represent the apple key because he felt that the Apple logo was special, and that it should be used sparingly. It was this initiation that the command key was created to enable the removal of the Apple logo appearing along side every menu item of the Mac graphic interface.

The origins of the symbol can be traced back to Sweden where it is used to indicate a place of interest on maps and road signs. The Mac used the new symbol in place of where the open apple was on Apple II keyboards. When the IIGS was released the open apple symbol reappeared in conjunction with command symbol to enable backwards compatibility with older Apple II software.

Since then, the Apple logo and command symbol have coexisted side by side for over 20 years. With the advent of the new Apple keyboard the Apple logo has been removed in favour of the word command. The command key is one thing that has stayed constant over much of Apple’s turbulent history.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 31st, 2007 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Apple history. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.