Android Arts
Sony HiTBiT F1XD MSX
My speculations on why computers often look like arse nowadays:
1: Different target demographics. Back in the 80's, a computer was a sort of wondrous technological marvel that you perhaps bought just to have one even if it ultimately wasn't all that useful. Making a showpiece out of the case was a way to compensate. Now many entertainment systems are designed to not stick out; they are simple monoliths to be "hidden" on a desk or stowed in next to some TV-box.
2: Costs. Computers in the 80's cost a lot more, so more resources could go into things like case design, packaging and manuals.
3: Lack of components. Designers of computers and phones now have nothing to play with even if they wanted. There are no cartridge slots, wonky I/O ports, floppy drives, joysticks, special keys, turbo sliders, venting holes, etc. Everything has been shaved off so design has become this dumb, monotonous thing - rectangles with rounded corners.
You might protest that there's designed gaming hardware now, but this type of design has two problems. Design gains a lot when it's has a foundation on actual functional components. For example, if the floppy drive section on the F1XD was nonfunctional, just a piece of plastic, it would be much weaker designwise, sort of silly. When I look at modern gaming hardware, it feels... superficial like that, and everything is black and angular with LEDs. It's nonsense greeble!
Motherboards do have functional components. There are people who build very nice looking pump systems and so on... but all of this is hidden in a case... sometimes a rectangular "monolith" style case with a square plexiglass window. It's a different kind of design anyways... a sort of engine of stuff which sits in a box to the side. In contrast, something like the F1XD is like a tactile control panel directly under your hands - here function meets design.
Sony HiTBiT F1XD MSX
My speculations on why computers often look like arse nowadays:
1: Different target demographics. Back in the 80's, a computer was a sort of wondrous technological marvel that you perhaps bought just to have one even if it ultimately wasn't all that useful. Making a showpiece out of the case was a way to compensate. Now many entertainment systems are designed to not stick out; they are simple monoliths to be "hidden" on a desk or stowed in next to some TV-box.
2: Costs. Computers in the 80's cost a lot more, so more resources could go into things like case design, packaging and manuals.
3: Lack of components. Designers of computers and phones now have nothing to play with even if they wanted. There are no cartridge slots, wonky I/O ports, floppy drives, joysticks, special keys, turbo sliders, venting holes, etc. Everything has been shaved off so design has become this dumb, monotonous thing - rectangles with rounded corners.
You might protest that there's designed gaming hardware now, but this type of design has two problems. Design gains a lot when it's has a foundation on actual functional components. For example, if the floppy drive section on the F1XD was nonfunctional, just a piece of plastic, it would be much weaker designwise, sort of silly. When I look at modern gaming hardware, it feels... superficial like that, and everything is black and angular with LEDs. It's nonsense greeble!
Motherboards do have functional components. There are people who build very nice looking pump systems and so on... but all of this is hidden in a case... sometimes a rectangular "monolith" style case with a square plexiglass window. It's a different kind of design anyways... a sort of engine of stuff which sits in a box to the side. In contrast, something like the F1XD is like a tactile control panel directly under your hands - here function meets design.