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DELETE: TRASH CAN
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DELETE: TRASH CAN

As part of the original conceit that a computer’s workspace was analogous to a physical […]

March 3, 2026April 29, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
MAP: PRINTED MAP
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MAP: PRINTED MAP

Maps were originally drawn or printed on paper or canvas and either rolled or folded […]

March 3, 2026April 29, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
DOCUMENT STORAGE: FOLDER
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DOCUMENT STORAGE: FOLDER

To keep loose papers in order, they are frequently put in large, folding pieces of […]

March 3, 2026April 29, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
ATTENTION/WARNING: FLAG
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ATTENTION/WARNING: FLAG

Flags have been used for millennia as ways to quickly communicate important information, and the […]

February 25, 2026 devincoldewey2 mins read
HOMEPAGE: HOUSE
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HOMEPAGE: HOUSE

A house or home is certainly an intuitive enough concept for digital use, but its […]

March 31, 2025May 14, 2025 devincoldewey2 mins read
TEMPORARY STORAGE: CLIPBOARD
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TEMPORARY STORAGE: CLIPBOARD

When documents were made of paper, you needed something flat to lay them on in […]

March 31, 2025 devincoldewey2 mins read
FLASH: LIGHTNING BOLT
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FLASH: LIGHTNING BOLT

Flash photography has existed nearly as long as photography itself. Early plates and films required […]

March 31, 2025March 31, 2025 devincoldewey1 min read
EMAIL: ENVELOPE
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EMAIL: ENVELOPE

Paper letters, believe it or not, used to be sent totally unsealed and basically open […]

March 31, 2025 devincoldewey1 min read
LINK: CHAIN LINKS
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LINK: CHAIN LINKS

From well before the days of the internet, related things have been said to be […]

March 31, 2025 devincoldewey1 min read
BATTERY: AA BATTERY
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BATTERY: AA BATTERY

Though many battery-powered devices these days have a rechargeable lithium-ion power source built in, portable […]

August 25, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
ANSWER/DECLINE CALL: TELEPHONE HANDSET
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ANSWER/DECLINE CALL: TELEPHONE HANDSET

Early telephones had a detachable speaker one held to one’s ear, and an microphone integrated […]

August 25, 2024February 25, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
TEXT SELECT: I-BEAM
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TEXT SELECT: I-BEAM

When your cursor is over text that can be selected, it sometimes turns into something […]

August 25, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
VOLUME: LOUDSPEAKER
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VOLUME: LOUDSPEAKER

In the early days of amplified sound, speakers were often conical, a shape that naturally […]

August 25, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
ZOOM: MAGNIFYING GLASS
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ZOOM: MAGNIFYING GLASS

When you need to see something in more detail but are at the physical limits […]

August 24, 2024February 25, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
DESKTOP: ACTUAL DESKTOP
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DESKTOP: ACTUAL DESKTOP

Early computers had command line and other code-based interfaces (some of which survive today), and […]

August 24, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
SEND: PAPER AIRPLANE
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SEND: PAPER AIRPLANE

When paper was widely used in schools and offices, it was common to fold the […]

August 23, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
BOOKMARK: ACTUAL BOOKMARK
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BOOKMARK: ACTUAL BOOKMARK

Paper books have hundreds of pages; if you don’t want to remember exactly which one […]

August 23, 2024March 3, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
SHIFT: TYPEWRITER SHIFT KEY
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SHIFT: TYPEWRITER SHIFT KEY

Modern keyboards are based on those created for typewriters, and while they have several digital-specific […]

August 9, 2024March 31, 2025 devincoldewey1 min read
BACKSPACE: TYPEWRITER BACKSPACE KEY
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BACKSPACE: TYPEWRITER BACKSPACE KEY

Modern keyboards are based on those found on typewriters, and while they have several digital-specific […]

August 9, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey2 mins read
ENTER: TYPEWRITER CARRIAGE RETURN KEY
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ENTER: TYPEWRITER CARRIAGE RETURN KEY

Modern keyboards are based on those found on typewriters, and while they have several digital-specific […]

August 9, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey2 mins read
ATTACHMENT: PAPER CLIP
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ATTACHMENT: PAPER CLIP

This symbol is a paper clip, a piece of metal wire bent into a shape […]

August 9, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
INBOX: ACTUAL INBOX
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INBOX: ACTUAL INBOX

Before computers, business was largely conducted on paper, and one might arrive at the office […]

August 8, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey2 mins read
KEEP: PUSHPIN
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KEEP: PUSHPIN

In paper-based offices, a common way of organizing information on a large scale was a […]

August 8, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey2 mins read
ORIENTATION: PORTRAIT AND LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS
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ORIENTATION: PORTRAIT AND LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS

When artists painted a person’s portrait, they often arranged the canvas so that was taller […]

August 8, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read
CURSOR: ARROW
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CURSOR: ARROW

That we use arrows to point at things may seem so obvious that it doesn’t […]

August 8, 2024August 23, 2024 devincoldewey2 mins read
DOCUMENT: PIECE OF PAPER
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DOCUMENT: PIECE OF PAPER

A sheet of paper with written or printed words on it was the most common […]

August 8, 2024March 3, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
WAIT: WATCH FACE
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WAIT: WATCH FACE

Clocks have been round since the days of sundials, reflecting the endless cycle of day […]

August 8, 2024February 25, 2026 devincoldewey1 min read
SAVE: FLOPPY DISK
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SAVE: FLOPPY DISK

Data storage has gone through many phases: early on, punchcards represented a certain standard quantum […]

August 8, 2024March 31, 2025 devincoldewey2 mins read
WAIT: HOURGLASS
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WAIT: HOURGLASS

Before mechanically driven or digital watches, timekeeping was more approximate but still surprisingly accurate. Well […]

August 8, 2024August 8, 2024 devincoldewey1 min read