It should still work even after not being turned on in two decades.
That said, I still have an actual ADM-3A terminal in my parent's garage. More people probably came to Macs after using Apple IIs than after using ADM-3As (or VT100s, etc.). There's probably a lot fewer people using Macs who would have memories (I hesitate to include the word "fond" with that) of one of those, however. An 80-column Apple II display, though, matches up exactly with the minimal, plain text output you expect to get from a typical *nix terminal program.Īnother mode that would match up well, though, would be an ADM-3A appearance. If it had a VT100 mode I'd expect to see it support ANSI, blink, bold, reverse video, underlined text, etc.
Update 2, 2012: Hey, as of release 5.19 in late 2011, the MacOS release of XScreenSaver includes stand-alone application versions of the Apple2 and Phosphor screen savers that are pre-configured to work as terminal emulators. Reading all of the comments in hacks/analogtv.c is well worth your time. The underlying display module shared by the apple2, pong, m6502, and xanalogtv screen savers is actually simulating the hardware of an old CRT, rather than just doing an effect that kinda-sorta looks like it. This new "Cathode" program works a lot better, though.įor those of you on Linux (or using X11 on a Mac), you can accomplish a very similar thing by using the "apple2" module of my xscreensaver package, as detailed here (and also here and here). For those of you tuning in late, or who don't click my "previously" links, back in 2006 there was an earlier program of similar concept called "GLTerminal". Previously, previously, previously, previously, previously. Impress curious onlookers at internet cafes. Turn up the noise, jitter, and flicker to add a realistic warmth.ĭisregard thirty years of GUI advancement by immersing yourself in full-screen mode. Watch the strange dance of beam desyncs and shifting colors. Customize the screen's curvature, colors, and transparency. Bask in the glow of over-bright phosphors that flash on and slowly fade away.