@mroach your interests include IRIX, WAP, Windows CE, WebTV and obscure user agents? I have never met someone with so much overlap in niche interests :D
My life mission is to make websites that work in every weird old browser.
@karpour I love the tech of the 90s and early 2000s. So much throwing spaghetti at the wall, wacky innovation, and just fun. And definitely some maddening weirdness. I love it! And devices. I always loved old feature phones, PDAs, and even back then making web pages work on them.
With ip.mroach.com I had a simple mission of "works on old browsers" and now that's been scope creeping to "works with the best possible presentation in every browser". Like one of those museums where you walk through the evolution of a society :D
My self-imposed constraint has been to avoid user-agent sniffing and figure stuff out in other ways which is surprisingly sort of clean.
What are your favourite devices that you'll always go back to?
@mroach 100% agree, tech back then was so quirky and interesting, and many companies really tried some wild things.
I love portable devices. Windows CE has a special place in my heart. I recently found out that Pocket Internet Explorer from 1999 has everything needed for a modern web app. CSS, DOM manipulation and most importantly, AJAX! On a handheld browser from before 2000, blows my mind.
@mroach I also love obscure old devices. I have a Sharp MI-10 color zaurus from 1996. First PDA ever with a color display. Very undocumented, but supported applications, had an attachable camera and even a modem card and a html web browser. I did not get that to work yet but if I do, i will likely be the only person in this decade to have used this browser.
Overall I feel like there is so much to be done documenting the history of user agents!
@karpour @mroach Just had to go find the only Windows CE device I've ever had - Windows CE Mid style. Trouble is the plastic has turned into that sticky rubber. Plus I vaguely remember it has a Mini USB socket but would only charge from a proprietary charger. Gonna need some ethanol before I can even touch it!
