Ask HN: Is there any appetite for the return of "lickable" UIs?

6 points·foofoo4u··5 comments

Is there any appetite for the return of "lickable" UIs? I miss the colors, contrast, polish, and shine of [Mac OS 10.3](https://guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/macosx103) in particular. I find it all so beautiful—it was one of the major things that drew me to Mac OS. I also found it easier to use; there was no mystery about what was a button or where the scroll bar was.

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I loved the old days of demented candy colored / looking buttons on the web.

I’m generally tired of the soulless, flat, muted web.

This! It's not even just the web - how did we go from the amazing creativity of say WinAmp skins, to the flat lifeless interfaces of Spotify and Music.app?

The forcing of accessibility standards is what I think of first. It isn't a bad that things are accessible, just that it cuts down on creativity that's able to be expressed in the final product.

I agree but I see two reasons for the soulless, muted UI:

1. 25 years ago, computers and the internet was something new you wanted to attract people to, shiny new toys.

Today it is something people are gonna stare at 10 hours a day or more. I guess Windows XP was really tiring for the eyes after a while.

2. I believe the evolution we see in UI is exactly the same we saw in buildings and homes. I personally can't believe how depressing most modern houses are inside and outside.

What if instead of buttons reacting like glass or hard plastic, they reacted like they were full of gel or air depending on where your pointer was? I'm thinking kind of like a fidget-toy UI.

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