Christian Kent 𝘊𝘒 :＼﹥
dan 💾No one expects the QuickDraw GX inquisition. #MARCHintosh
The Macinthrope@billgoats GX was ahead of its time. There’s some wonderful built-in color ImageWriter support. And universal printer sharing.
@macinthrope I had it installed for a bit, but had to turn it off. There was some good stuff, like ImageWriter background printing. But it felt more like a late beta than an actual release, and was killed off before they could make it good 💩
bunnyhero@billgoats @europlus I was all ❤️❤️ for this — it was the peak of Copland shippable tech before Jobs rationalised things (and made them beautiful in 1999, so I forgave him by then)
@billgoats @europlus Let’s also hold a flame for QuickDraw II (GS/OS Boogaloo)
https://archive.org/details/IIgs_2523072_QuickDraw_II_Quirks
John Parker@billgoats There was a great QuickDraw GX font called Jam I used to love - a sort of worn typewriter effect.
I think I converted it into a plain TrueType font using Fontographer or one of the dev tools at the time, but even if I did, the only backup is on a Zip disk, and I’ve no Zip drive.
There’s now an exciting quest that lies ahead of me in terms of tracking down lots of obscure software and emulators - the grand prize being, in retrospect, what transpires to be a rather mundane font. 🤔
Grant Hutchinson@middaparka @billgoats Jam was designed by Erik van Blokland (@letterror) and was known for its implementation of GX variations. It currently lives on in the form of the variable typeface “Neither Confirm Nor Deny”.
@middaparka @billgoats A bit more backstory on the NCND FAQ page:
Erik@splorp @middaparka @billgoats I think I have a copy of Jam somewhere if you want. GX was great and way ahead of anything else at the time. It did some things that even the current variable fonts can’t reach.
@letterror That would be amazing. Otherwise, I fear I’ll have to find a means of reading this bad-boy, if indeed it’s not succumbed to bitrot.
Damn, seeing it again in that Vimeo video takes me back.
NCND looks stunning as well. 🙌
@middaparka @letterror Hey John … I have the means to read and recover Zip disks, if you need help with that.
@splorp @letterror That’s very kind, but I’m in the UK - even if it currently works, I suspect that might not be the case by the time it arrives.
Still, it could be worse - it could be a SyQuest. 😃
I think I’ll see if I can pick-up a USB Zip drive locally, if only out of curiosity.
@middaparka Yes, that would be a bit of a trek to Canada for a poor little Zip disk.
(By the way, I can also handle Syquest, SyJet, SuperDisk, Bernoulli, and Jaz.)
@splorp Damn - that’s pretty much the full set. 🫡
@middaparka I’m still trying to find a couple of formats … like a phase-change dual (PD) drive.
@splorp Don’t think I’ve ever seen one of those outside of the pages of a computer magazine.
In the unlikely event I bump into one with a voltage selectable PSU I’ll grab it for you though. 👍
@middaparka I always appreciate another set of eyes out there.
@middaparka @letterror A Zip disk — in all its original prenatal cocoon!!
@letterror @splorp @middaparka @billgoats I was about to bring that up — surely the original font is pushing beyond the limits of our current technology
But now I’m thinking of the “San Francisco” font announcement a few WWDCs ago, and the plethora variant sizes and weights built into a single face & file … and wondering:
Have we eclipsed TrueType GX yet?
@letterror @splorp @middaparka @billgoats (if not, I think it may be time for a Super Specification to at least describe, if not implement, all the abilities … last year I did a deep dive into the Windows 2.x vector fonts, which nobody remembers let alone implements anymore …)
Then there’s the more basic specs like “how do we spec that a bitmap font is supposed to be 2:1 aspect ratio?” I do love the Apple Shaston font, for being a loving implementation to be aesthetic in spite of the cruel limitations of 200-line video from the days of non-interlaced SD CRT video. It’s a better solution than the 5 minutes spent designing the CGA font, for example.
@whophd You mind find this project of interest.
@splorp @middaparka @billgoats @letterror That’s a wild toot with a Cc’d namedrop and that’s the nicest type of experience here 🥰
Axel@splorp @middaparka @billgoats @letterror
I have always known this font as “Trixie”, and this article seems to confirm that.
https://eyemagazine.com/blog/post/variable-grunge
or is “Jam” part of the ‘corporate machinations’?
@axel @splorp @middaparka @billgoats Trixie was first. Then I made Jam for an Apple workshop with their GX tools (around 1993). This needed new outlines and a different name as Apple wanted to include it with their developers tools. FontShop then sold Trixie for many years. Then when Monotype bought FontShop in 2014 they also acquired the trademark. When I could finally terminate the contract in 2023, Monotype offered to sell the trademark back at an incredibly inflated rate. Which I could not afford. So now it is called “Neither Confirm Nor Deny” as that is the official answer to the question “is this Trixie”.
@letterror @splorp @middaparka @billgoats
Thanks for responding personally Erik!
Regionales Retro-Rechenzentrum@billgoats ”Do you want to install QuickDraw GX, offering great new features? TONIGHT | MAYBE LATER“