THINKING, THINKING, THINKING.

A computer is a computer. A computer is not a person. When it is busy the computer needs a way to tell the user to hold on a sec. Think about it -- people would get terribly irritable and impatient without knowing that the computer is "thinking" or "working" and not just frozen. There has always been a need for us to actually see the computer in thought (hmm) and thus we have a niche of cursor/icon design. Windows icons are, well, pretty damn lackluster so they have been excluded from the above comparison.

The famous stopwatch was designed by Susan Kare in 1983 and is interesting because when Windows rolled out with their standard "hold on a minute" icon it was not a watch, but an hourglass/sand timer. On the surface it makes sense to use an image of a recognizable icon that is used to measure time. Apple's version, however, is of a watch with a face shape that looks digital; a digital watch is a new invention and is electronic. How humorously typical is it, then, that Windows comes up with a icon of a device that was invented in the third century. Which company seems more forward thinking?

The evolution of the "hold on a minute" icon is interesting, as you can chart the trends in design: two-dimensional flat art followed by a leap to an exaggerated, three-dimensional gradient "beachball" (or "marble" as it's sometimes called; some simply call it "uh oh"). This reveals not just the short period in which graphic design capabilities evolved, but shows that designers were very excited about being able to have such a realistic image on a screen. Then again, everyone loves shiny objects.

If you take a look at the last three icons they are all gradient designs, albeit with more subtle and understated gradients than the beachball. Another shared trait is the round shape, which is pretty easy to explain: a circle is one of simplest forms and psychologically round forms are pleasing to look at so if you're waiting, you might not get as angry as you may with an hourglass or stopwatch. Also, there is something elegant in the minimalism of a circle whereas realistic representations are very detailed and, dare we say, bourgeoise. Being confined to such a small box to think inside of means creativity, which gives us Apple's hash marks, YouTube's miniature circles, and Carbonmade's thick line. This is very detailed observation, but each relies on mimicking light, which is kind of odd since a computer screen functions from and already is using light. It becomes light on light.

Or maybe I'm overthinking it.