Marcin WicharyFeb 3

So there are coffee table books with beautiful photos of Braun equipment, Apple computers, collections of corporate brand standards, typeface specimens etc.

But outside of some nostalgic video game coffee table books, have their ever been coffee table books showing primarily software? Graphical user interfaces or apps?

The closest I can think of is the macOS/iOS app icon book (by Michael Flarup), but that’s specific to icons.

Stone ToolsFeb 15
Show threadMarcin Wichary

I was just looking at Scala on Amiga and look how beautiful!

(Source + kudos to Stone Tools: https://stonetools.ghost.io/scala-amiga)

Feb 3 at 12:43amWeb
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3

In my head, I can see a beautiful 17"x11" spread with a hypothetical Windows 3.11 CRT that’s 3000x2000 and it has a lot of windows, icons, Minesweeper, the goods. Especially the later “platinum” Windows 3.11 appearance.

You know? Stuff like that.

Early skeuomorphic iOS, early webOS, various Mac things of course, BeOS, the later Norton Utilities aesthetic, XCopy on the Amiga! TOS was always so elegant. And some lesser-known things. Newton?

Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3

Early NeXT, obviously (a bit Unixy, but has some elegance)! Magic Cap?

There are probably some more strange and beautiful text-only DOS apps. Some particularly memorable semigraphics.

Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
I think Psion was very nice, too.
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3

I mean look at this stuff!

This, or IBM 2260 also had this wild-looking font.

Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
Some of these are stark but maybe kinda beautiful – especially if you pair them with some of the nicer PC fonts?
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
Of course also stuff like Delicious Library, Winamp… I think the suspiciously short-lived iTunes 5 was also beautiful.
Show threadJef PoskanzerFeb 3
@mwichary I was gonna mention WinAmp. I didn't use its original incarnation but I do use the web-based version.
Show threadEric VitielloFeb 3
@jef @mwichary the original one really whipped the llamas ass
Show threadChristian "Schepp" SchaeferFeb 3

@mwichary sounds like something that the Bitmap Books would be a good fit for, although right now they mostly have game centric nostalgia books: https://www.bitmapbooks.com

Should you feel like you could pull such a book off, then they might be in, too: https://www.bitmapbooks.com/pages/book-submissions

High-quality retro video game books and collections | Bitmap Books

At Bitmap Books we work with experienced writers, designers and gaming experts to create visually ambitious books that bring your classic gaming memories to life.

Bitmap Books
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@Schepp I’m actually not a huge fan! I think their books are a bit too generic coffee table, a little too rushed to market. I think ROM Books would feel like a more caring publisher. Genuinely inspired by some of their output.
Show threadChristian "Schepp" SchaeferFeb 3
@mwichary oh, not heard of them before. Will have alook at their books!
Show threadadamriceFeb 3
@mwichary Kai’s Power Tools!
Show threadRaineer  🦆Feb 3
@mwichary speed disk and Norton disk doctor (those were the days…) were the absolutely epitome of TUI to 15yo me
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@raineer Especially when they started redefining the characters, they hacked the bright colors as background, and did the fake graphic mouse pointer!
Show threadrayslavaFeb 3
@mwichary BTW, the fonts.
I really love the IBM BIOS one :)
The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack: Font Index

Full index of the world's biggest collection of classic text mode fonts, system fonts and BIOS fonts from DOS-era IBM PCs and compatibles

Show threadGregatron5Feb 3
@mwichary I miss BeOS and am still sad I can't find my R5 disc some 25 years(?) after I lost it. I know about Haiku. I just sometimes lament the loss of what could have been if its IP hadn't been squandered and abandoned.
Show threadWhine SpectatorFeb 3
@mwichary vectors!
Show threadSnoopJFeb 3
@mwichary WOW, what a photo
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@SnoopJ Very WarGames
Show threadk8quinn 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇲🇽 🇪🇺Feb 3

@mwichary

Reminds me of the Tektronix 4010s and 4014s we used to use. Vectors and persistent phosphor for the win.

Show threadMatthew DockreyFeb 3
@mwichary It feels almost like a more angular Gorton, particularly that 'G', but what is going on with those numerals?!
Show threadDoug WilsonFeb 3
@mwichary Surely you've seen Frank Grießhammer's talk about the Hershey fonts? https://coopertype.org/events/the_hershey_fonts
Type@Cooper – The Hershey Fonts

Show threadStewart RussellFeb 3
@onpaperwings @mwichary that IBM 2260 is much simpler than Hershey's. The capital C on the screen has only six segments, while Hershey uses 17
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@onpaperwings Yes! Exciting to hear there’s a new edition coming.
Show threadGeoff CoffeyFeb 3
@mwichary There’s something so gorgeous about those old vector based crt displays.
Show threadRevK Feb 3
@mwichary that looks a lot like someone working with technical limitations on a vector based font.
Show threadChancerubbageFeb 3

@mwichary

Vector graphics in this sense is kind of wild in general since it isn’t far removed from an oscilloscope trace. To me it would seem theoretically far more chaotic to control than the strength of a raster beam tracing a screen ouroboros.

Show threaditgrrl Feb 3
@mwichary vector display? 👀
Show threadadamriceFeb 3
@mwichary Is that a vector-scan display?
Show threadMarty Heyman at COBOLworxFeb 3
@mwichary And the nifty light pen!
Show threadAlex BabaevFeb 3
@mwichary loved mine
Show threadDaniel CarosoneFeb 3
@mwichary palm
Show threadranjitFeb 3
@mwichary Beagle Bros products for Apple 2
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@ranjit Wow! TIL
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 27
@ranjit Ended up writing about them! It was fun to learn more: https://unsung.aresluna.org/our-programs-are-fun-to-use/
“Our programs are fun to use.” – Unsung

A blog about software craft and quality

Show threadphookyFeb 27
@mwichary @ranjit I didn't realize that Beagle Bros., like Infocom, was done in by an attempt to pivot to business software.
Show threadStewart RussellFeb 3
@ranjit @mwichary I always liked how Room Ten (a 1986 game from CRL) looked. It even appeared to have a deliberate UX, which was not bad for an 8-bit game in 320x200 px
Show threadSnoopJFeb 3
@mwichary SGI :)
Show threadSnoopJFeb 3
@mwichary depending on the flavor of the book there may be a page or two dedicated to Kai's Power Tools (Bryce3D in particular sticks strongly in my mind)
Show threadjohn spurlingFeb 3
@mwichary Solaris OPEN LOOK
Show threadacbFeb 3
@mwichary Don’t forget OPEN LOOK, one of the most stylish (IMHO) GUIs of the era, doomed to obscurity by Sun’s dog-in-the-manger attitude to intellectual property
Show threadMarty Heyman at COBOLworxFeb 3
@mwichary Magic Cap was THE BOMB! I bought 2 of them and went to the one and only General Magic get together! That's an initiative to bring forward in a Lightphone kind of way.
Show threadCharles Choi 최 민수Feb 3
@mwichary PC GEOS, the best Motif implementation that wasn't Motif.
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@kickingvegas I resurrected some PC/GEOS pixel fonts and use them on my site! https://aresluna.org
Aresluna

Marcin Wichary’s site

Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@kickingvegas GEOS on C64 was also very elegant!
Show threaderin sparlingFeb 3

@mwichary with a forward written by Susan Kare. Please make this happen!

Looking forward to the companion CD-ROM that is included on the sleeve, featuring a Macromedia Director interactive tour that has to be run in an emulator. Just make sure the Palm V companion app supports hotsync!

Show threadAmy WorrallFeb 3
@everyplace @mwichary I would buy this!
Show threadPhil DokasFeb 3
@mwichary I’m just saying: GUIdebook Book 😄
Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@dokas Seems like it!
Show threadColinFeb 3

@mwichary any Breadbox Ensemble love?

http://toastytech.com/guis/bbe.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEOS_(16-bit_operating_system)

Breadbox Ensemble

Show threadMarcin WicharyFeb 3
@colinstu I’m vibing more with early GEOS – I think the later you go the uglier it gets…
Show threadCvXFeb 3
@mwichary is it too early to place a preorder? 😄
Show threadToby BryansFeb 3
@mwichary don't forget RISC OS!
Show threadJames BilsbroughFeb 3
@mwichary I remember using MM200 on PC, for song words at a church of all things
Show threadJulien DeswaefFeb 3
@yhancik Je vois que Scala 1.35 est sorti en 2025. Tu crois que je peux essayer d’ouvrir les projets faits à St-luc en 98 :)
Show threadYHANCI~1.TXTFeb 4
@julien ahah! mais en plus avec les 30 ans de la section cette année, on a déjà parlé de se replonger dans les outils de l'époque ;)
Show threadJulien DeswaefFeb 4

@yhancik Ce serait une belle expo à faire, en effet. Refaire tourner des machines de l’époque avec Windows95 et Imagine, Scala, TVPaint...

Je dois encore avoir ma tour de l’époque dans le grenier paternel. La pile doit surement être remplacée.

Show threadYHANCI~1.TXTFeb 4
@julien trouver des machines de l'époque, ça risque d'être compliqué, mais en émulation ça devrait le faire
Show threadYHANCI~1.TXTFeb 4
@julien (en fait mode workshop plutôt qu'expo ;))