![]() The engineers who designed the Touch-Tone system envisioned it in the 1940s as a multi-tone system. “Octatherp” was proposed but wisely rejected in favor of “pound.” Calling the asterisk “star” was easy enough, but naming the other key was more of a challenge. The star and diamond were replaced with the asterisk and pound sign when one of the Bell System engineers decided the two extra keys on the dial should have characters drawn from the ASCII character set. ![]() (See “1963.”) The specs, however, called for a five pointed “star” key and a “diamond” key, along with four other keys labeled A though D. ![]() See a picture of this first push button phone here. The first phones only had 10 buttons, the numbers 1 through 0. The original Touch-Tone phones (not simply phones with buttons) were introduced to the American public in November 1963. Much research and testing remains to be done before the sets can be made in quantity and placed in service, but these may be the telephones of the future.” – Telephone Almanac for 1960, Southern Bell Telephone and Telegraph Company/Bell Telephone System. These new sets were placed on trial last summer, then taken out of service for study at the Laboratories. Instead of twirling a dial, users will press numbered buttons to make a call – a faster process than dialing. “A pushbutton telephone that may eventually replace the conventional telephone dial is under development by the Bell Telephone Laboratories. Dear Straight Dope: What is the history of the pound and star symbols on the phone keypad? I understand their use today for automated systems, but why were they originally added to the phone? Al
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