According to Dorsey, payment service Square was almost called ‘Squirrel’ and the card reader dongle was made of wood and shaped like an acorn. The name Squirrel was known even before Square’s official announcement in December of 2009. As was the fact that the dongle was acorn shaped. But the images below are the first I’ve seen that show off the actual dongle design and logo in such detail.
Dorsey had lunch one day with Apple Senior Vice President of iOS Software Scott Forstall when he saw a POS system in the company cafe called ‘Squirrel systems’, so he decided to change the name of the company. Along with that meeting came a change in aesthetic…to a much more Apple-esque design.
Here’s the original branding and image of the ‘Acorn’ dongle that eventually became a square:
(via Jack Dorsey Shows Off Squirrel, The Square that Could Have Been)
