There are several pictorial histories of GUIs that have examples of interface objects that go back as far as the Xerox Alto
http://toastytech.com/guis/ http://www.guidebookgallery.org/icons The object with the + sign is often associated with a treeview object so you might try searching on that. I looked in my Windows 3.1 guide and in that book, there is no treeview, but hierarchical folders for file operations (no +). One trick that many people, even after many years don't know (or aren't aware of) is that the plus sign in Windows often allows you to open things up without changing the selection focus (different tree view widget may allow different types of interactions). Since the plus is possible in character cell applications, you might want to look at some of the early office products. You might also want to search for examples of "file managers". Wikipedia has a good list of file managers that might use the plus sign. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_manager Chauncey On Tue, Mar 18, 2008 at 9:47 AM, Charles Hannon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I am interested in the history of (+). I am tracking the "evolution" of this > interaction idiom (and others) and the ways in which user mental models have > to adapt to such changes. > je > I think (+) first meant "expand" as opposed to (-) which meant "collapse." > In iTunes it means "Add Playlist" and this has been copied (very crudely) in > the Sony Reader eBook Library application. In the original iPhone/iPod Touch > Safari interface it meant "Add Bookmark" but after the January 2008 upgrade > it has been generalized to mean "Add Something." > > I am not a long-time Mac user so I wonder if (+) has always been part of the > Apple lexicon, or if it is new. Also, has anyone on this list seen (or > created) different implementations/meanings of (+) in other products? > > Charlie > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
