tell me what your favorite computing aesthetic was or is.

[skyfaller@jawns.club]

@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.

[conchoid@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@cwebber Nokia E71

[bridget@beige.party]

@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

[michaeltbacon@social.coop]

@cwebber

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.

[amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu]

@cwebber I loved amiga workbench 3.1 for UI and for case design I think the SGI octane is pretty

[silverwizard@convenient.email]

@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

[djm62@beige.party]

@cwebber VT220 - obsolicious ️

[silverwizard@convenient.email]

@conchoid @cwebber oooooh I still have one of those! they were so good!

[sci_photos@troet.cafe]

@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)

[conchoid@mastodon.gamedev.place]

@silverwizard @cwebber I couldn't afford back then but I got a secondhand for a gift

[takev@solarpunk.moe]

@cwebber That one scene from Jurassic Park.

[aerynv2@tenforward.social]

@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.

[stellarskylark@solarpunk.moe]

@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.

[brooke@bikeshed.vibber.net]

@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)

[grace@social.lol]

@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.

[antifuchs@weirder.earth]

@cwebber the lil bounding box selection markers in CLIM/symbolics presentation types.

[brooke@bikeshed.vibber.net]

@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

[brooke@bikeshed.vibber.net]

@pwloftus @cwebber the XL series was absolutely peak Atari design language

[adr@mastodon.social]

@brooke @cwebber Oddly, WfW 3.11 was the last version of Windows I've ever used for, say, more than a 30 minute period. I do remember it somewhat fondly.

[theesm@social.tchncs.de]

@cwebber hardware design wise I love the early 2000s (GameCube, GBA, iBook G3).

On the interface side I am drawn towards neocities/tumblr style lo-fi/pastel/pixel art aesthetics.