3 ms·

All I can say is :shrug: As soon as I left the comfortable worlds of Apple ][ and MS-DOS and got shoved into Windows 3.0, I pined for a dark screen and started

All I can say is :shrug: As soon as I left the comfortable worlds of Apple ][ and MS-DOS and got shoved into Windows 3.0, I pined for a dark screen and started fucking with the color profile. When I was 12. When I started running Solaris and Linux boxes in college, always had a dark terminal, and wrote my code in vi. The older I get, the more I crave the darkness, and the UX bros are accommodating me. Maybe it's just too late for me already.

layer8 4y ago
This was certainly true in CRT times, but since the advent of LCD I prefer light mode, and it is easier on my eyes (as long as the brightness matches the ambient light). Only with OLED do I prefer dark mode, at night, at least on mobile devices (haven’t used an OLED desktop yet).
deepspace 4y ago
It is interesting how different people have different experiences. I grew up in the days of green monochrome terminals and monitors, and hated them. I bought an amber monitor as soon as they became available, and that helped a bit with the eyestrain. Windows 3, Word for Windows and TSE were a godsend to me. Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers. Today, I do use dark mode; my devices are set up to go dark late at night, in case I wake up and want to check something without burning my eyes. But that comprises a miniscule amount of the time I spend in front of a screen.
- midoridensha 4y ago
  >Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers. Real-world paper doesn't have a backlight behind it, projecting bright white light directly into your eyes. If you want to see documents the way they were "intended" to be viewed, you need to use an e-ink screen.
  - scatters 4y ago
    Why should your eyes care whether the light was generated behind the screen or bounced off it? Photons are photons.
    - midoridensha 4y ago
      Because directly-transmitted light from an LCD screen's backlight doesn't scatter the way diffuse, reflected light from a piece of paper does. It's like comparing a laser to a flashlight.
      - scatters 4y ago
        Sorry, but that doesn't make sense at all. An LCD screen emits photons of all wavelengths and in all directions, as does a piece of paper. That's totally different to flashlight vs. laser, where there is a physical distinction between the types of photons being emitted.

layer8 4y ago

This was certainly true in CRT times, but since the advent of LCD I prefer light mode, and it is easier on my eyes (as long as the brightness matches the ambient light). Only with OLED do I prefer dark mode, at night, at least on mobile devices (haven’t used an OLED desktop yet).

deepspace 4y ago

It is interesting how different people have different experiences. I grew up in the days of green monochrome terminals and monitors, and hated them. I bought an amber monitor as soon as they became available, and that helped a bit with the eyestrain. Windows 3, Word for Windows and TSE were a godsend to me. Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers. Today, I do use dark mode; my devices are set up to go dark late at night, in case I wake up and want to check something without burning my eyes. But that comprises a miniscule amount of the time I spend in front of a screen.

midoridensha 4y ago
>Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers. Real-world paper doesn't have a backlight behind it, projecting bright white light directly into your eyes. If you want to see documents the way they were "intended" to be viewed, you need to use an e-ink screen.
- scatters 4y ago
  Why should your eyes care whether the light was generated behind the screen or bounced off it? Photons are photons.
  - midoridensha 4y ago
    Because directly-transmitted light from an LCD screen's backlight doesn't scatter the way diffuse, reflected light from a piece of paper does. It's like comparing a laser to a flashlight.
    - scatters 4y ago
      Sorry, but that doesn't make sense at all. An LCD screen emits photons of all wavelengths and in all directions, as does a piece of paper. That's totally different to flashlight vs. laser, where there is a physical distinction between the types of photons being emitted.