[IxDA Discuss] Power icon

[Shaun Bergmann]

A discussion came up at the office today that got me wondering.
Do any of you know the history of the 'Power' Icon?  You know the one:  The
circle with the vertical bar pointing up and overlapping the top edge of the
circle.

This icon was being incorporated into an interface and the argument was made
that "not everybody is going to know what that icon means"

That's totally possible. If anything stands out as a good example of the
statement that there are no intuitive interfaces -- all interfaces are
learned -- it's this icon.  The only reason people are going to know that
it's the power button is because they know it's the power button.

I looked at it's design from a fresh perspective today and really have to
question WHY it's become so prevalent?  Visually, it doesn't say "power" to
me.  Where'd this thing come from?