tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I have a lot of nostalgia for using my grandpa's old IBM computer as a kid, with the 3.25 inch floppy disks, and an amber monochrome monitor.
The satisfying *kachunk* of inserting a program or data disk, and the springy tactility of ejecting a disk and catching it in your palm. There was something nice about switching disks too.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I'm in the middle of a field trip (back) to 1990s X11. xedit, xman, .Xresources. I've always admired the bicolour-but-reasonable-resolution aesthetic (black-and-white 1024x768 say, but even 800x600 was pretty ok). And everything it just So Fing Clear. Scrollbars! Grab handles! I also like the Macs from this era (Hypercard and so on). And I have a soft spot for the 4-level gray of NeXT (and BeOS?) though i never used them.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I really like the human-made janky computer systems from the Xenowealth series by Tobias S. Buckell, including "Ragamuffin". Basically, almost everyone in this universe uses advanced alien computer technology through neural interfaces, but anyone who opposes the alien overlords doesn't dare use it because the aliens can take control of it. So the "ragalamina" is old two-dimensional computer tech based on systems we'd recognize, which humans understand and can make trustworthy.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber Nokia E71
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I really liked earlier MacOS X when everything was skeuomorphic and looked like you’d be able to feel the textures if you touched the screen
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
I don't know that I can pick just one, but . . .
WordPerfect 3.2 with the little plastic multicolor guide that slotted over the left-side function keypad.
X11 with Motif widgets running on a GIGANTIC 19 inch Sun workstation monitor
The amber monochrome screens on an old VT420 terminal.
My old giant trackball from like 2004 that was about the size of a pool cue and a really comfortable hand rest.
The white 11 inch MacBook from like 2003.
The 2013 series of MacBook Pros. Flawless.
The golden age of Lenovo ThinkPads, including the little X1s that were such great little low power workhorses.
Flip phones. Seriously. My old ultraruggedized Casio flip was such a great device.
LaTeX's default typesetting output. I love that I can get it with Markdown and pandoc now.
ANSI animations and Operation Overkill II on BBS doors over a 2400 baud modem.
EDIT: OH. And workstations from like 1996-2004 that were super well designed for field service. Easy to open and service. LOVE.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I loved amiga workbench 3.1 for UI and for case design I think the SGI octane is pretty
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber modular systems with resources you can plugin to each other. I think so much about cartridges with save batteries, extra compute/ram, sunlight sensors, PRINTERS! SEWING MACHINES! Cartridge computer is the future! But everyone is like "I 3D printed a case for an SD card" now
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber VT220 - obsolicious
️ -
@cwebber Nokia E71
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber Of course my 9-pin dot matrix printer; I'll use it on Saturday again to print QR codes:
Markus Osterhoff (@sci_photos@troet.cafe)
Angehängt: 1 Bild Toll, wie das Technikgedöns funktioniert!
troet.cafe - Mastodon (troet.cafe)
-
@silverwizard @cwebber I couldn't afford back then but I got a secondhand for a gift
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber That one scene from Jurassic Park.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I unironically liked Windows 8: this is a computer, it displays in text and solid-colour rectangles, unlike most of the other "flat" designs there's a thick-stroke border around the buttons that you're supposed to be able to click. I'm sure an actual UX designer could point out the failures in concept or execution, but it felt to me like Windows 3.1 but less beveled because we're all used to computer abstractions by now.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber I have a permanently burned-in memory of the smart watches the kids get in Spy Kids 2, with their holographic displays and inelegant bulk. Also famously had the ability to do "anything you could ever want...except tell time" because they packed it so full of features there was no room left for the clock. It's something I'd like to at least partially replicate with modern wearables someday.
-
@cwebber I unironically liked Windows 8: this is a computer, it displays in text and solid-colour rectangles, unlike most of the other "flat" designs there's a thick-stroke border around the buttons that you're supposed to be able to click. I'm sure an actual UX designer could point out the failures in concept or execution, but it felt to me like Windows 3.1 but less beveled because we're all used to computer abstractions by now.
@aerynv2 @cwebber bold support for the old windows 'metro' look
(i honestly loved that design language on windows phone 7/8, and it had some compelling things to say on tablet, but for me it didn't connect right on desktop. I think a more thoughtful thorough integration could've been possible though! Ah, another universe who knows. <3)
-
@aerynv2 @cwebber bold support for the old windows 'metro' look
(i honestly loved that design language on windows phone 7/8, and it had some compelling things to say on tablet, but for me it didn't connect right on desktop. I think a more thoughtful thorough integration could've been possible though! Ah, another universe who knows. <3)
@brooke @aerynv2 @cwebber Same!! I still miss my Nokia Lumia. It was the easiest to use, had the best information density for me, and I found I used my phone way less because I got all the necessary and pertinent info at a glance due to live tiles.
I know some people have tried to replicate it on Android to mixed success.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber the lil bounding box selection markers in CLIM/symbolics presentation types.
-
tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is. a real one or even fictional!
go ahead! you're being given permission! infodump away in my replies here!
@cwebber Windows for Workgroups 3.11 was peak Windows UX for me
The operating system itself wasn't _super_ huge but it still offered a lot of the modern conveniences like networking and video playback (well for the time)
You could customize it thoroughly and it didn't force you to run services you didn't feel the need to use
Yes, 16-bit protected mode still sucked to program for but there was the win32s extension to run a clean subset of 32-bit executables, as well as all the DOS games you could eat
And that aesthetic? That clean, flat, borders & bevels look that distinguished between buttons and labels?
Seared into my brain
-
@cwebber Probably just a first love thing. Atari 800XL, attached floppy, and a few controllers.
My sisters and I always fought over the red handled joystick.
An old CRT with dials and a button for switching between Black & White and Color display. The color didn't always cooperate.
