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Comment by mc32 | Hacker News Reader

Those are terrible. I think I’ve had analogs in the physical world where toggles indicated state by the color exposed (green = on, red = off) but this tries to be better by having both color indicator and text indicator) and you’re left deciphering their language a bit. Yes, it is terrible.

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The intended analog is lightswitches with the text on them.

https://cdn.thisiswhyimbroke.com/images/lightswitch-identifi...

I've never seen lightswitches like those, but that's a terrible design as well, for the same reasons.

They're ubiquitous in America, but approximately nobody pays attention to the text because the position is what indicates on/off, where "up" in "on".

Huh, I'd always considered that toggle switches are "down is on". (UK resident).

That way it's the same as a standard rocker switch (the direction of rotation is the same).

I’d expect a rocker switch in America to also be the same as our light switches - pressed at the top for on, pressed at the bottom for off.

That's generally a rocker switches work on devices in America, e.g. guitar amps: the side that is pressed is "on" or selected/enabled.

Last time I was in Europe (Portugal), I remember having a lot of difficulty making sense of the light switches, but it was one of those apartments where you have two or three light switches controlling the same fixture, which is always confusing.

Still, I think the American light switches are actually pretty good. Maybe one day we will get a Technology Connections video about light switches around the world.

Until you encounter a switch that's part of a three-way switch arrangement where up can be on or off depending on the position of the other switch in the circuit.

I've lived with these my whole life, in every place I've lived, plus with one or two switches that were sideways, so the first time I'd ever heard "up is on" was in a comment thread like this a few months ago. I didn't think there was any sort of standard, it's just always been "flip the switch if it's not currently what you want".

This is in the US.

It's still "on" in the sense of the circuit being closed.

In this case I mean "down" as in "the long part is pointing toward the ground", not "some button-like thing is depressed towards the wall".

Agreed, in the UK:

- 'angled towards the ground' is 'On' (https://cdn.aws.toolstation.com/images/141020-UK/800/10481.j...)

- 'angled towards the ceiling' is 'Off' (https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Images/Products/size_3/MKK4870....)

But that's completely backwards from a normal rocker switch!

In Aus most light switches are rocker switches that are also "down = on".

In aviation (and old cars) switches are usually toggle switches with "up = on".

Strangely I'm ok with both. I think of rocker switches as opposite to toggle switches automatically.

- https://www.google.com/search?q=rocker+switch

- https://www.google.com/search?q=toggle+switch

With a light switch you can immediately verify that the switch is in the correct position by looking at the light you want to control. Text/labels/positions don't add anything of value. Also, it's usually safe to experiment with the toggle until you get the desired state.

In software often none of this applies.

> green = on, red = off

Are you sure? I think the opposite is more common.

I have at TV that is red-lamp off, blue lamp on.

where have you seen red = on, green = off?

Most safety switches on firearms expose a red dot meaning the weapon is "ON"/ready to fire.

I agree with you on that, but I’ve never seen green be the contrasting or alternative color.

Maybe because a gun should never be treated as totally safe.

In electrical industry, red used to mean powered or hot or dangerous, green unpowered or harmless.

All earth-leakage breakers in my area are like this: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Schneider_Electric_A9D3... https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/sHYAAOSwu2ZkBk5~/s-l960.webp

Electronics industry have diverged.

In security red generally means encryption/protection is active.

And then there is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tally_light

> In the active (on air) mode, tally lights are typically red.

> Some cameras and video switchers are capable of additionally showing a preview tally signal (typically green) for when the camera is about to be switched to and become the main source of video signal. Once the switch happens, green changes to red.

> In security red generally means encryption/protection is active.

That's daft. You want to highlight (red) the insecure state, and reassure (green)in the secure state.

Really?

Do you want a real-world example have a look at US White House:

> President Obama talks on the phone aboard Air Force One. April 10, 2014.

> The Airborne Executive Phone has the red light on, which means it's a secure call.

https://www.electrospaces.net/2017/01/the-presidential-commu...

It is further made more clear because NSA literally calls their secure network the red network.

red and green should not be used like that. A significant fraction of the population, especially males, has difficulty telling them apart.

That's why mains wiring no longer uses red to mean live and green to mean ground.

I’ve seen it a few times on the web with cookie preferences pop-ups, to set your tracking and personalization preferences. Dark patterns to confuse and trick website visitors into enabling all tracking settings.

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