A week or so ago, I asked about the origin of the
0 and 1 symbols for "off" and "on."
I mentioned that it was my recollection that the
the symbols came from early safety standards where
the "off" and "on" functions were by means of a
rotary switch where the 0/zero position was "off."
I found some very old standards that I still have
on my bookshelf.
IEC 380, First Edition, 1972:
Electrical Safety of Office Machines
Clause 7, Markings
Sub-clause 7.10:
"If figures are used for indicating different
positions, the "off" position shall be indicated
by the figure 0, and the position for greater
input, speed, cooling effect, etc., shall be
indicated by a higher figure.
"The figure 0 shall not be used for any other
indication, except that this shall not preclude
the use of the figure 0 for the identification
of an alphabetic or numeric key on an office
machine."
I believe this text is virtually the same as the text
in CEE-10 mentioned in my previous message. CEE-10
was the predecessor to IEC 380 and addressed safety
of office machines.
I conclude that the 0 and 1 symbols came from the
number zero and the number one.
Today, the figure/symbol 0 is REQUIRED as the OFF
symbol and the figure/symbol 1 is REQUIRED as the
ON symbol.
What have we done to ourselves?
Best regards,
Rich
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