Fantasy Computer Interfaces

[Tinc]

Been thinking wistfully of anime/media where depictions of computing interfaces were more speculative and more...free? Less bound by established norms around UX/UI and design philosophies and taste and who were not just trying to reproduce something familiar.

Thinking things like dotHack's ALTIMIT OS or SE's PlayOnline interface for FFXI (haha yes this one was real, but still).

But also, does anyone have others that stick out to them?

[Slumber]

Ironically I remembered the one from Serial Experiments Lain but it was so strangely advanced... And I don't recall the show actually showing much of the UI, either. Now I have to think about it...

[Tinc]

OH GOSH! So I haven't watched Serial Experiments Lain yet, and it's been on my "to watch" list for.... far too long (totally not decades ;>_>)

I will definitely have to watch it now.

What I do know about Lain is that it also has a VERY obscure programming reference Lisp nerd love to get excited about--the scene where a character uses a PDA like device and is programming something in Common Lisp. (I had a false memory this was supposed to be an Apple Newton in the show, but I just confirmed it was a custom in-universe device. I'm guessing then the discussion I read at the time was suppositioning this is likely a *reference* to the Apple Newton which used a Lisp-dialect for programming).

I didn't allude to it in this post when I made it here and elsewhere, but I've been trying to wrangle this feeling I've been having around UX and computing lately and been trying to confirm and research it.

A Diinki video I watched finally hit the nail on the head for me, where they talk about retro computing devices being more free and experimental as a "norm" hadn't been settled on yet.

And I think that's what I miss--I feel like most Anime and other media I watch, especially in modern/current day settings, have been more often showing a UX that more resembles what we have now (Windows/Mac/iOS/Android/etc).

It's kinda instilling 2 desires in me

1. Go back to using really weird and really custom Linux Windowing environments, and this time get really *weird* with it
2. ...start researching depictions of computing interfaces in media and doing an essay about it :sweat:

But as much as I'm *convinced* this is a thing....I couldn't recall more than those two examples??? I need some more places to start (and search on the internet is garbage these days, so gotta do things the old fashioned way *rolls up sleeves* )

Edit: and OH YEAH, seeing Picotron is *not helping* I'm really tempted to buy it and start messing around with it