4 ms·

So, is there somebody there who knows Marc Andreessen or Eric Bina and could aks one of them to confirm they choose blue because it looked good on white while r

So, is there somebody there who knows Marc Andreessen or Eric Bina and could aks one of them to confirm they choose blue because it looked good on white while red or green were obviously too much loaded ? This looks simpler than listing a bunch of other UI, many non influential and none of them giving the answer.

jccalhoun 5y ago
Agreed. I'm kind of shocked that the author didn't just ask people who were on the mosaic team.
- Veen 5y ago
  Perhaps I'm being unfair, but that's what a journalist would do, not a UI designer writing what is essentially a piece of content marketing.
vitaflo 5y ago
> they choose blue because it looked good on white Websites back then did not have white backgrounds, they were all gray. In fact I’ve always wondered why the default background was gray more than why the links were blue.
- pornel 5y ago
  Because window backgrounds were gray in NeXT, because buttons used both white and black to create beveled "3d" borders, because beveled buttons were a fancy upgrade compared to simple borders in 1-bit graphics. Screen resolutions and drawing speed weren't good enough to waste on thicker borders, so 1px lines had to stand out on their own.
- Stratoscope 5y ago
  Back then, most people used CRT displays, and just like today, tended to have the brightness turned up too high. And it was fairly common to have a 30 Hz refresh rate. The refresh might even be interlaced! A white background in this situation could lead to noticeable flicker, especially as you moved your eyes, e.g. look away from the monitor and look back at it. The gray background made this flicker less noticeable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate
- gnicholas 5y ago
  This helps explain why they chose blue. Green and red can be difficult to read on a grey background.
pgroves 5y ago
My boss did UI/UX on Mosaic (we are both at NCSA today). I will ask her on Tuesday when I see her. She has lots of wild stories about why things are the way they are.

jccalhoun 5y ago

Agreed. I'm kind of shocked that the author didn't just ask people who were on the mosaic team.

Veen 5y ago
Perhaps I'm being unfair, but that's what a journalist would do, not a UI designer writing what is essentially a piece of content marketing.

vitaflo 5y ago

> they choose blue because it looked good on white Websites back then did not have white backgrounds, they were all gray. In fact I’ve always wondered why the default background was gray more than why the links were blue.

pornel 5y ago
Because window backgrounds were gray in NeXT, because buttons used both white and black to create beveled "3d" borders, because beveled buttons were a fancy upgrade compared to simple borders in 1-bit graphics. Screen resolutions and drawing speed weren't good enough to waste on thicker borders, so 1px lines had to stand out on their own.
Stratoscope 5y ago
Back then, most people used CRT displays, and just like today, tended to have the brightness turned up too high. And it was fairly common to have a 30 Hz refresh rate. The refresh might even be interlaced! A white background in this situation could lead to noticeable flicker, especially as you moved your eyes, e.g. look away from the monitor and look back at it. The gray background made this flicker less noticeable. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refresh_rate
gnicholas 5y ago
This helps explain why they chose blue. Green and red can be difficult to read on a grey background.

pgroves 5y ago

My boss did UI/UX on Mosaic (we are both at NCSA today). I will ask her on Tuesday when I see her. She has lots of wild stories about why things are the way they are.