Mutiny
Things started for me on the Commodore 64.
It was my first computer and the start of everything. After this last year or two, I've really been evaluating the whys of my professional trajectory and doing a bit of rediscovery as I look for what's next. I've managed to slowly piece together a Commodore 64 this past year while also having some great conversations and shared moments of nostalgia with the people who sold me the parts. It's been great to explore things again and be reminded of where it all began. I'm hoping it helps me be more honest with myself with what I choose next.
To share this experience, I thought I might redesign my personal site (jonnygotham.com) to be a very slight shimmer of that childhood memory. I managed to track down a good replica of the original font and match the colors to a mash up of my memories and what the screen looks like with the actual hardware — I'm talking about sitting at my desk and color matching using a 1701 monitor from the 80's! The design is limited to similar restrictions of the machine at the time, which is sort of a usability/readability nightmare, but I think that's forgivable given its nature:
> Hardware Limitation: Screen Resolution = 40 character limit for screen display, minuscule leading so everything can fit into the underlying blocks of the display grid (the entire display was basically mapped to good-sized, uniform blocks, so no such thing as halves or quarters here)
> Memory Limitation: 64KB Total = Monospaced typeface with a limited character set without bold, italics, or any real text decoration. To help grasp that limitation, the entire machine ran on 64KB, operating system and all. Apple's latest San Francisco typeface, for just one font file that holds a single weight, is 345KB alone. Your phone probably has at least 32GB, which is 33,554,432KB. Things have come a long way!
> Hardware Limitation: Cartridge, Floppy Disk, or Cassette Tape = Slow initial load experience. I slimmed down the time though because while you appreciate that experience the first time, it's not amusing the second, third, or really ever again. 😂
Typefaces:
Style's C64 Font: http://style64.org/c64-truetype
Animation Library:
Typed.js: https://mattboldt.com/demos/typed-js/