What is with this fascination with black and white

[paddys-hill]

This quote came from another forum so its not about Mint

[redacted] commented 7 hours ago

Or include at least a monochrome version of the original icon. System tray is all about black and white...

What is with this attitude "System tray is all about black and white." I have a nice little monitor here that actually displays colours, so why should I not use them. If I want to look at black and white I'll go and look at a piano keyboard. Do these people want to return to the monochrome CVT days or something?

I just don't understand this fascination, did I miss something.

[xenopeek]

Go look in a mirror? The person you quoted likes monochrome icons in the status area. You like colored icons. You both don't seem to leave room for other people can have different likes. Ease up there.

[paddys-hill]

Fair cop. I have removed the offensive word.

I am not whinging or complaining. I simply do not understand this trend/fad/whatever you'd like to call it. So again, why is the system tray "all about" black and white. That's the bit I am querying.
To put it another way...
Is there something about system trays that make them work better in B&W? Is there some psychological reason for us all to eschew coloured icons? Is it something else?

One of the first things I did after installing Mint was to change the entire panel to use coloured icons. I find them easier to use than the symbolic versions. Maybe that's just me and my age and deteriorating eyesight? That is the reason for my question, nothing else.

[Moonstone Man]

So again...

So again, "The person you quoted likes monochrome icons in the status area. You like colored icons."

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/exampl ... preference

There is absolutely nothing else to be said.

[absque fenestris]

There is simply nothing to understand about trends and fashion. They come and go, and no matter how tasteless or idiotic they may be, you can't argue against them.

In the specific case of black & white desktop design, you can bet that after a certain saturation, the trend will switch to total color.

[Rocky Bennett]

There is simply nothing to understand about trends and fashion. They come and go, and no matter how tasteless or idiotic they may be, you can't argue against them.

In the specific case of black & white desktop design, you can bet that after a certain saturation, the trend will switch to total color.

It is not a trend or a fad, it is one person's preference.

[absque fenestris]

But then this one person is pretty busy: kicked out the colored icons/symbols in macOS, not idle in Windows 10 either, and apparently has a say in various Linux distros as well.

For example, in Mint 20.2 Cinnamon the icon for Nemo, once it is clear that the "File Manager" is Nemo.
Has the charm of a current sneaker's ...

[Rocky Bennett]

I am running Windows 10 and there are colors galore. I have never noticed any trend towards eliminating all of the very cool colors that exist in the world.

Just one person's experience.

[absque fenestris]

Is probably a European Windows ...

[Rocky Bennett]

My Windows Start screen has a multitude of colors. You might have yours set up that way, for some very odd reason.

[Schultz]

It is a trend, and it's an idiotic one at that. I wonder if these people have black and white tv sets from the 50s in their homes. It makes no sense to me, we live in a color world, not b&w. Color icons also serve more than just to look pretty, color helps the brain to distinguish between different icons. It's all just a part of the dumbing down going on in the world in the last 20 years or so. And that's my opinion. (Says the guy with a b&w avatar.)

[Moem]

Color icons also serve more than just to look pretty, color helps the brain to distinguish between different icons. It's all just a part of the dumbing down going on in the world in the last 20 years or so.

So, rather than dumbing things down, wouldn't black and white icons make things harder?
Anyway... I like color, it has its place. I also like black and white... that, too, has its place. I can imagine someone feeling that colors draw too much attention and a greyscale colour scheme is calmer on the eyes.
But as has been said several times: it's mostly a matter of personal preference. And we all get to have those.

By the way, how do you like my new (to me) e-paper smartwatch?

[Mick-Cork]

Dang, I've got three of these to give away and I was thinking of getting rid of them here on the forum.. ah well, I'll move on!

[absque fenestris]

So - I would have liked to see Emily a bit more detailed ... the rest is somewhat simple

[Mick-Cork]

So - I would have liked to see Emily a bit more detailed ... the rest is somewhat simple

Emily gave way to Jane on this edition, plain as day!

[absque fenestris]

... but it's black & white

[xenopeek]

but it's black & white

I think you need to give your monitor a whack to put the color back in.

[Termy]

I love black and white, but also enjoy black and red, if the red is subtle. I don't just like it because so many others like it, it's actually something I've always loved, since I was a kid. I guess I enjoy the contrast and the association of mystery with black; it can give off a sense of elegance. I find it sexy when women are dressed in black, too.

Maybe so many enjoy black and white themes because of misplaced nostalgia of something they never experienced. People can enjoy something others enjoyed years ago. People loved black and white TV, because that's all they had; it stood out. As time moved forward, black and white was phased out and technology evolved. It became uncommon to see things like black and white film. Of course, black and white photography made a comeback, but no longer due to technological limitations. There were still newspapers, but eventually colorful magazines became a thing. Color became the norm.

Maybe some people originally favored black and white because they wanted to stand out; to be non-standard. Now, it's practically everywhere, to the point at which many groan with disinterest when they see it. Maybe some people like it because they want to make a statement that they like what they do, regardless of those ever-audible groans; maybe they don't actually like it, but instead like how it makes them feel and enjoy being the rebel.

Maybe some of the same sorts of people who love records, even today, prefer black and white themes?

I'unno! Just thinking.

This does remind me how hard it is to be unique, these days. With over 7 billion people on the planet all doing their own thing, it's hard to stand out. Maybe the preference of black and white is a manifestation of that desire to be the sore thumb; to be the special one amongst the crowd of normals. If you think about it from the perspective of survival, standing out helps us attract a suitable mate, so that we might reproduce.