> The only situation dark mode is better than light mode is when you're sitting in a dark room with your screen as your only light source, and most of the time that's not really a healthy situation to be in. Dark mode is a crutch. Turn on a light or go to sleep.
It's always been strange to me how many people without a medical reason for doing so want to sit in dark rooms like cave trolls, but there we are.
At least now operating systems all have switchable modes that get reported to the browser. The browser can/should adapt to whatever setting the OS reports.
But UI design is, with a few islands of rationality in history from people like Paul Fitts, mostly a cascade of poorly applied vibes and fads. First people say that contrast is bad, so then people don't use enough contrast. Then people say that brightness is bad, so people don't use enough brightness. Then people realize why contrast and brightness were important all along and the circle of life continues.
> It's always been strange to me how many people without a medical reason for doing so want to sit in dark rooms like cave trolls, but there we are.
As a millennial, I grew up with rooms being lit by 1-3 relatively dim lampshaded 40-60w incandescent bulbs at night. As a result that’s what feels comfortable and relaxing to me as an adult. Rooms at home being brightly lit at night feels grating and reminiscent of a grocery store or hospital or something.
> Rooms at home being brightly lit at night feels grating and reminiscent of a grocery store or hospital or something.
Look into getting warm white lights. For some reason cool white lights are super common while I do think most people at home would actually prefer warm white.
Oh yeah, I’m a big fan of warm lights and have been using them for a while. Still don’t like them bright at night. Lights that are indirect (e.g. under counter) I can deal with being considerably brighter but for your typical table/floor lamp, 60W incandescent equivalent is the upper limit. I don’t like ceiling pot lights at all unless the bulb can be dimmed.
As a sibling comment expresses, it’s their unshaded nature. The light is too direct/harsh and can introduce glare. They can also wind up in peripheral vision easily, particularly when sitting down and looking up at someone standing or at an object high on the wall.
Indirect/shaded lamps that diffuse the light over a larger area and reduce its intensity are preferable.
> It's always been strange to me how many people without a medical reason for doing so want to sit in dark rooms like cave trolls, but there we are.
Because screens are not bright enough to use outside or in well-lit environments.
If E-ink or similar technology manages to get a bit better refresh rates, it's going to change building architecture in the entire industrialized world.
I'll grant you outside, because the power of the sun is immense, but they're definitely bright enough to use in any well-lit indoor environment. Do you mean if the lights are behind your head instead of overhead? That's either bad lighting or bad ergonomics, and I'm sorry if you must suffer through that. That sucks.
An ergonomic screen arrangement, with the display placed such that you're not looking downward at it, should make it basically impossible for an overhead indoor light to interfere with your view.
> If E-ink or similar technology manages to get a bit better refresh rates, it's going to change building architecture in the entire industrialized world.
Fingers crossed. I remember yearning for the breakout of transflective displays that never happened.
I don't think I phrased that right. What I mean is environments with a lot of natural light, for example from big windows. Or a café without walls to the outside, letting the sunlight in, but not right overhead. I guess this kind of architecture is not so common in colder countries, now that I think of it.
The sun is tyrannical where I live, so with current display technology, offices are indeed built somewhat like caves.
It's always been strange to me how many people without a medical reason for doing so want to sit in dark rooms like cave trolls, but there we are.
At least now operating systems all have switchable modes that get reported to the browser. The browser can/should adapt to whatever setting the OS reports.
But UI design is, with a few islands of rationality in history from people like Paul Fitts, mostly a cascade of poorly applied vibes and fads. First people say that contrast is bad, so then people don't use enough contrast. Then people say that brightness is bad, so people don't use enough brightness. Then people realize why contrast and brightness were important all along and the circle of life continues.