Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again • Hacker News Board

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#71

Post by forbiddenvoid » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 2:32 AM UTC

ddtaylor wrote: post #65

nimih wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

AI writing is worse on the merits: it is lower quality and has concerning externalities associated with its production.

Often the commentor wants to take a shortcut and just say it's AI written and hand wave it away. A comment should argue the merit of the work not attack the source or medium.

The medium is the message. I feel like this should be more obvious in 2026 than at any other time in history.

If the author does not care to take the time to craft their message, why should I care to take the time to read it?

If you used AI, and I cannot tell, I don't care that you used AI. But when it's clear and present almost immediately, I feel as though the author does not respect their audience (of which I am a member).

As every composition teacher would say: "use your own words."

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#72

Post by trollbridge » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 4:01 AM UTC

agumonkey wrote: post #44

trollbridge wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps because we grew up with it. The VGA 8x16 font reminds me of growing up when I had my first computer that was all mine, with a plasma display where the pixels were clearly visible, yet quite restful on the eyes.

the nostalgia doesn't check all the boxes, even though yeah it's hard to deny, but it embodies a different mindset, a strange limited visual form that promised the future. it was also its own kind of design and aesthetic, today we have infinitely capable machines and all possible fonts but we lost that difference. ps: i have the same relationship to vintage desktop computer form factor, something about an old blocky…

One odd thing I have noticed is that my young children think a COMPAQ Portable III (not the machine I had as a youngster, but similar) is far more interesting to them than a modern, sleek MacBook. I think it's because they can touch it and turn it on and off, it simply occupies more physical space, and it makes more "interesting" noises.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#73

Post by ddtaylor » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 4:18 AM UTC

wastewastewaste wrote: post #36

ddtaylor wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Attacking the source of the message instead of the merits. Ad-HomineLLM

It reads like a dog wrote it. Whether the writer is terrible or LLM being terrible, get this shit out of here

A dog writing sounds like an interesting story.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#74

Post by beej71 » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 4:32 AM UTC

A little weird, but lately I've found myself craving lower-res monitors with chunky pixels. I think maybe I'm just nostalgic in my older age. :D

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#75

Post by noosphr » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 4:34 AM UTC

turtlebits wrote: post #30

VorpalWay wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Couldn't disagree more, I get headaches from blurry text, so I daily drive Terminus TTF, and have done so for years. Modern font rendering really has becole quite terrible unless you own a high DPI screen, even when using full hinting. And no, subpixel anti-aliasing doesn't help, the colour bleeding is even worse.

Buy a modern monitor or just run your display at a low res and disable antialiasing? Phones are now 500 PPI+, theres no real excuse for using a low DPI screen.

Screens are still stuck at <150 ppi, unless you go for an 8k screen.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#76

Post by pb060 » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 5:21 AM UTC

I like to flirt with new fonts every now and then but for me all roads lead to Monaco.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#77

Post by captainbland » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 5:56 AM UTC

ddtaylor wrote: post #66

captainbland wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The attention economics are bad more than anything else. LLM articles ask us to put more time into reading it than the LLM put into writing it. Actually committing time to production is the minimum bar which suggests something is worth our time in a world where so much is already vying for our attention.

If a truly amazing thing was released tomorrow that had massive utility you wouldn't care how long it took to create and would just use it. I get the attention economy is messed up right now, but using it as a justification for being curmudgeonly or abandoning principles is lame.

Yeah but we're not talking about utility, we're talking about content and in this particular case content which basically just boils down to someone's slightly quirky taste in something.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#78

Post by LocalH » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 6:17 AM UTC

I still use Amiga Topaz (depending on my mood, either the 1.x or 2/3.x variants) across multiple programs on my computer, from terminals to IDEs and text editors. I even have it set in my browser as the monospace font, which isn't perfect, but is quite nostalgic.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#79

Post by ddtaylor » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 6:26 AM UTC

captainbland wrote: post #77

ddtaylor wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If a truly amazing thing was released tomorrow that had massive utility you wouldn't care how long it took to create and would just use it. I get the attention economy is messed up right now, but using it as a justification for being curmudgeonly or abandoning principles is lame.

Yeah but we're not talking about utility, we're talking about content and in this particular case content which basically just boils down to someone's slightly quirky taste in something.

I think utility is a big component of that. I think there's a reason we're discussing these types of things instead of just cat pictures and memes.

Re: Bitmap fonts make computers feel like computers again

#80

Post by ddtaylor » Fri, Apr 10, 2026, 6:35 AM UTC

unleaded wrote: post #25

ddtaylor wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Attacking the source of the message instead of the merits. Ad-HomineLLM

Who would want to read about the thoughts of an AI? All it knows about your thoughts are from what text you already fed it with, and it will end up adding things you don't intend or agree with. Even just telling it to fix grammar it can subtly do this.

I think a lot of people are really interested in what an LLM or something that can pass the Turing test "thinks" or generates as output.

Obviously it's for entertainment, but there are many channels where content creators post questions that have asked LLMs [1]

I also think many people are prompting image generators to see what they produce. I can remember a time when many images that involved asking ChatGPT to make someone aggressive would make the people in the image black, whereas using neutral terms would have them generate as white.

I also remember asking early GPT 4 LLMs to explain something to me like a 5 year old from X location and basically seeing the network produce varied responses as it was clear it had an idea of some 5 year olds from one city being inherently smarter than others. Then you can change it to say a 5 year old girl or a 5 year old boy and it would dumb things down a lot more for the boy.

[1]: https://youtube.com/@fatherphi