Comment by acheron
6 months ago
Can't tell you about the kids, but I started out with an amber monochrome CRT, and I used plenty of Apple II and MS-DOS text mode over the years, so it's not a lately adopted affectation. :) But I'm being around 75% facetious about calling it "original sin" -- I think Atkinson is right that "light mode" is better for graphics work, and his push for it on the Lisa and Mac was probably the right move.
But yes, I also think of "light mode" as "starting into a light bulb all day" and when possible prefer light text on a dark background. How much of that is real and how much is just part of the same nostalgic impulse that leads me to install PxPlusVGA9 [0]...
[0] https://int10h.org/oldschool-pc-fonts/fontlist/font?ibm_vga_...
It might simply be because you've never put concern toward basic lighting theory. Within a basically moderate range of illumination, you get eyestrain not from bright or dark but from repeatedly forcing your eyes to reaccommodate between the two. Adjust your room lighting such that whatever sits behind your displays is about as bright as they are, and dark mode becomes the accommodation problem, while dark on light is as comfortable as reading. Too, in this configuration you can also see things that don't emit light...