when did appliances start using the "play" icon as a start button?

[natives]

This is Nat Ives, a reporter at The Wall Street Journal, reaching out to the community here because I write about consumer experience and product design, and I'm trying to find out if anybody recalls when the triangular "play" icon that we first knew from audio/visual equipment like the VCR began showing up as a "start" button on appliances such as washing machines.

Anybody have any recollections or insights?

I'll add a URL pointing to a contemporary LG washing machine with a "play" icon as its start button.

LG WM3499HVA: 2.3 cu.ft. Compact All-In-One Washer/Dryer | LG USA

Get information on the LG WM3499HVA. Find pictures, reviews, technical specifications, and features for this washer/dryer combo.

www.lg.com

 

[henene4]

Not before electronic controls

Thinking about it, the first to use them to come to mind are LGs in the early 2000's.
Or the digital control Maytag Neptunes of the late 1990s, but dunno if they launched before the turn of the century of not.

The first digital control washers in the 80/90s by Whirlpool had written Start pads from my recolection.

Fisher&Paykel used text labeled Start buttons in arrow shape until 1998 at least, then switched over with their Phase 5 machines first bringing a realy prominent triangle in the later versions of that.

So I can't think of anything before 1998 that I could verify.

Maybe some dishwashers did so earlier?
DW got way more computerized way sooner compared to US washers.

 

[appnut]

My Whirlpool Duet 2010 design still had start/paus and my 2010 designed KitchenAid dishwasher still had start button.

 

[yogitunes]

Neptunes have a "start/pause" button....

but not an actual ">" arrow or triangle style icon like VCR's had...which may be more of what Nat is probably looking for...

 

[petek]

The first time I noticed it was on our LG washer

 

[iej]

I think it’s also because the symbol is increasingly ubiquitous and universally understood.
If you went back to the 1980s it may have been on tape decks and VCRs but it often was just written PLAY and REWIND etc

We’re all very used to seeing it as the start button on online videos, various tv services and all over the place.

The power on/off symbol wasn’t really ubiquitous until the 1990s either.

It’s a actually an I superimposed on a 0

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power_symbol

 

[lowefficiency]

I'm going to toss out an unvalidated theory:
The play/pause functionality wasn't tied to the transition from electromechanical to electronic controls, but rather was forced into being (and necessitated) by other factors. The timing of these is just a coincidence.

Take for example the early electronic Maytag A9900 washer. Fully modernized with pushbutton controls and a digital display, it didn't have a "start" button because it didn't *need* one - simply pressing the desired wash cycle button would instantly start the machine on that program. To have added a "start" button would only have added needless user interaction steps for no benefit. Likewise, the machine didn't need a pause function, because simply lifting the lid would bring motion to a halt - the same as it had been on prior Maytags.

So what *forced* the Start/Pause function?
Lid-locks would be one thing to look at. When did safety regulations (or legal exposure) change that lid-locking during agitation/spin became required? Was there a specific incident or lawsuit that can be pointed to for this? If a machine has a lid lock, a "pause" function becomes a basic requirement or you will have tremendous customer complaints. And if the user has intervened to pause the machine, you need _some_ way for them to tell it to resume again...

Just a theory - Maybe it gives your research a different path to look down?

 

[lowefficiency]

>> I think it’s also because the symbol is increasingly ubiquitous and universally understood.
>> If you went back to the 1980s it may have been on tape decks and VCRs but it often was just written PLAY and REWIND etc

Switching from words to symbols also reduces design/manufacturing/parts/logistics costs significantly for items sold in multiple countries, or to regions where multiple languages are spoken.

 

[wilkinsservis]

Need for non-language specific maufacturing

I would have thought the benefit of not having to change as many components/labelling between different markets as trade became international was the incentive for the use of symbols and minimising language

 

[thomasortega]

AFAIK, my first design that had a start-pause icon was the gallery (US version), followed by affinity

 

[iowabear]

I always think of cassette decks when I see these symbols.  My first cassette deck in 1979 had these symbols over the keys.  Most cassette decks used them and some only used the symbols and didn't bother with the text at all.

 

[gelaundry4ever]

I'm not sure exactly when they started.

However, I can tell you that the first time I've ever seen a play button on a laundry pair was when I saw the LG pair in best buy in 2006. A year later in 2007, my mom got her first front load lg matching electric set.