Retro Websites
Last modified 2024-11-12
I really like websites that are oldschool or deal with retro topics. If one is both, that's even better.
By oldschool, I mean sites that are filled with text in serif type without any unnecessary spacing, low-contrast font color or JavaScript. I do find many modern web pages visually pleasing, but for the fun of information gathering and navigation, I really like plain old HTML pages. Maybe this is nostalgia, may be this is because I like reading print books.
Please note that this is about the looks and the quality of the information only. Regarding the implementation, I support modern ideas like Responsive Design (page fits any screen size automatically), Semantic Markup (ditch some oldschool workarounds like using H1 for subheadings just because you wanted them to appear larger) and Open Web Standards (don't use Flash, for instance).
Let me list out some interesting examples.
- in70mm.com — Large format film history and news. Updated with the news of an upcoming 70mm film festival as of 2022-09-10. It was interesting to notice a write-up by Indian cinematographer K. Ramachandra Babu.
- cat-v.org — A group of geeky sites, mostly related to the Unix world.
Oldschool
While most people who call themselves developers have sleek-looking websites, it's common for CS pioneers and professors to have websites that have a simple or even an outdated design. Some are packed with content though.
- www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~knuth/ — Website of Donald E. Knuth.
- stroustrup.com — Website of Bjarne Stroustrup, the creator of C++. It packs a lot of information about C++. He also explains why the site doesn't look modern in the FAQ section.
- stallman.org — Website of Richard Stallman, the founder of GNU.
Galleries
- toastytech.com/guis/ — Screenshots, description and timeline of GUIs from various operating systems. A real contribution towards preserving computing history.
- www.webdesignmuseum.org — Screenshots and descriptions of old websites, mobile apps, desktop apps, etc.
