The Enduring Liminality of the Screensaver

Many of us have not thought about screensavers in years, but they are far more interesting than they might seem. They have a certain liminality to them that isn't quite matched elsewhere.

Music by RetroGamingNow:
"Within the Maze"

#liminalspace #weird #screensaver #computerhistory

[RetroGamingNow]

Wha....? RetroGamingNow made a video about a retro topic? Is that legal?

[slavprussiaottomanfinlandUSUK]

You might like XScreenSaver, which has 200+ screensavers that have been developed since 1992. Its probably the best continuation of them since the 90s.

[elisabethfox]

this made me unexpectedly nostalgic for the days of watching the 3D Pipes screensaver with my brother while we waited to be allowed to get on the computer

[wow-effect]

"3D pipes" was the best. I loved watching them go as a kid

[KyanoAngl_Mtvtks]

The 4:3 resolution is a nice touch in these retro vids. Then again, these old screensavers may look stretched/warped on a widescreen res.

I still use screensavers just for fun. I have Minecraft's Bricks, Wooden Planks (floor), and Quartz (ceiling) textures loaded into 3D Maze cos they fit well in it.

[elizabethopoussm]

Wow, I had no idea you were such an appreciator of modern art. I had never noticed the similarities before it really is fascinating once you see them

[mattguy]

This guy manages to make the most minute things interesting

[gorejan]

With more people having OLED monitors screensavers will come back as these are very affected by burn-in. I have an OLED monitor and am glad there are still some screensavers left in win11.

[kremstoin]

Oh I used to watch old screensavers with joy! Always got mad when me or my sisters accidentally moved the mouse lmao

[lalantes]

I started watching your videos for your Minecraft ARGs series, but honestly I really just love hearing you talk about stuff. Keep up the good work, man!

[legionrd]

I grew up vividly remembering pipes and never knew what it’s purpose was till now

[olseaweedbeardye]

The world traveler screensavers are so surreal. To me they break the unwritten rule of liminal spaces, where pictures of nature don’t convey the feeling liminal spaces normally do. Looking at those images makes me feel like I’m not within the world anymore, more like I’m in the spaces those pictures are, and they have a whole world that doesn’t exist anymore, because they were taken like 30 years ago.

[nubnerd.]

omg.. that intro about what liminality is is the most perfect description of liminal spaces are that ive ever heard. I'm a big backrooms guy myself and i spend tons of time looking at liminal stuff, but Ive never heard a better description of what it actually is than that. It's always so hard to describe it since its a feeling you just cant quite place. But thats it, thats it right there. Thank you.

[ItsJoeyG]

Great video as always! Nice job putting it in 4:3 ;)

[musingsofahomeschooler]

The Backrooms really was a defining cultural event of our era huh

[salam-peace]

Surprised no one mentioned these Astro Gemini 3D screensavers that were common in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I remember loving the seasonal ones (there were autumn, winter, christmas, holidays, spring, space and underwater themed ones and some more) and installing many of them on my computer as a teenager (I was around 13 to 15 at that time). These feel super nostalgic now, they look like mid 2000s game graphics nowadays. They always felt like game maps you could explore, even though they were just screensavers without controls.
Something about coming home from a stormy, rainy autumn day, sitting on your cozy warm computer and seeing these autumn and christmas screensavers always gave me a very warm and nostalgic feeling. It would be amazing if someone turned these 3D screensavers into a game map to explore or something.
There are also some new 3D screensavers with more modern better graphics on sites like 3planesoft or screensaversplanet for download.

[zivamayne]

Most of these screensavers have so much charm. My old living room pc used to have a multi colored bubble screensaver

[LevitationMaster]

A couple years ago in my school suddenly everyone was using screensavers, however most people didn’t really understand what the purpose of one was, and just ended up putting a still image or slow slideshow, like one person who put their screensaver as a still image of hentai with the n word written on the image

This video was a really cool dive into what I feel is the most underrated part of nostalgic and old computing

[jamesr]

I really like the unique screen ratio used for this video

[tamatebako_yt]

What a beautiful video! I don't have anything substantial to say other than show my appreciation for this video you created. It's a perfectly round package with no "sharp edges" so to say. I think videos like these are close to being an artwork in themselves (in fact I don't think this is even far fetched, as video creation is very much a creative process among some other things). Thanks for making quality content, please never change that approach to content creation.