What's That Weird Symbol on Apple Keyboards?

Why do Macs have a Command key, and what's the deal with that looped square symbol they use?

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[kptnix]

As a Norwegian, I've always wondered why the tourist attraction symbol is on the mac keyboard. Turns out it's _actually_ taken from our tourist attraction signs.

[Qassu]

That sign on the command key is called "Hannunvaakuna" or "Käpälikkö". It's over a thousand year old sign from Finland and it means good luck and prosperity and it was often carved on houses and wooden things to protect from bad luck. It has also been seen in money, jewelry and on road signs. It was in 1950's when it Finland it was adopted as a sign for cultural monuments and in 1960's it was adopted trhoughout nordic countries as a sign for sighting place for tourists. ;)

[TheEclipsedLock]

I've always thought of that symbol as one of the hot wheels tracks that loops lol

[blackhatson]

As a guy who use terminal a lot, I really appreciate the distinction between "control" and "command" key, I can copy text on the terminal without accidentally exit the program.

[hmuller]

Fun fact: there is an iFood delivery app in Brazil (and I believe they are present in other countries in latin america as well), but it has nothing to do with Apple

[overlisted]

fun fact: in software, win and cmd are actually interpreted as the same key (called "meta", "super" or "gui")

[lloyd]

*Fun Fact:*

The keycode equivalent of "control" in Mac is also the "Ctrl" in PC, but the keycode equivalent of "command" in Mac is the "Windows" key in PC.

However, keyboard shortcuts that use the command key in Mac is equivalent to the Ctrl key in PC.

Correct me if I'm wrong. I have tested this in my dual-boot Windows + Hackintosh computer.

[mdugaadr]

the joke in the end about an iFood app is kinda funny, because in brazil iFood (not related to apple at all) is one of the major food apps that competes with uber eats

[Prawny]

"Open Apple" is a phrase I never thought I'd hear.

Jobs: "What are we going to use instead of the apple key?"
Artist: Doodles in notebook not really listening.
Jobs: Looks over artist's shoulder. "Perfect!"

[marcoseliasmep]

4:02 Actually there’s a Brazilian company called iFood, a huge Uber eats competitor here haha.

[ash]

There are lots of weird symbols on Apple keyboards. I later found out that it is in fact the alphabet

[fragalot]

i always called it the Clover key since the 90s. There was even a song written about it called "I'm looking over a key called clover." which is a parody of the song "I'm looking over a four leaf clover" lyrics by Bob Kanefsky.

[K-o-R]

One of the key differences between the "Apple" key and the "Windows" key is that Win shortcuts always affect the system outside of the current app (they are _Windows_ shortcuts), while other shortcuts affect within the current app. This makes more logical sense to me.

[JohnnieHougaardNielsen]

I guess that the tourist attraction road sign symbol comes from a stylized fortress/castle drawing, a square with towers each corner.

[lucidmoses]

Knocked that one out of the park. Just the right amount of history and info for a windows audience. Nicely done.

[Jasontyo]

When I was in school the teachers all referred to cmd as "open Apple" and now I know why. This was performa days i believe closed apple key was long gone.

[RexTorres]

The fact that Windows, the thousands of Linux distros, Chrome OS use the same keyboard shortcuts, but macOS doesn't, is infuriating when you're constantly switching between Mac and the others. Plus, the command combinations on Mac physically hurt my hands; I have to do some finger gymnastics to execute them.

[DrewGourley]

I've heard this symbol called the "Rugbeater" because it looks like the wicker doohickeys people used to use to beat dust out of rugs. I prefer to call it this because it is fun to say.

[michaelroy]

and if you know old apple users, they'll still refer to those keyboard shortcuts and the key itself as "apple" rather than "command."