Save our screens

By Jerry Jamal Scott

The most guilty I ever felt at my old job was when my screensaver would show up. I’d quickly rush to press a key or swipe the mouse so no one would see I wasn’t working.

Because “screensaver” felt like “time-waster”.

Now as a motion designer, in the hours it can take to render a video, my screen isn’t good for much else anyway. That’s screensaver time. And whatever happened to those iconic ones we all loved?

I miss them.

I miss those tangled pipes. The endless maze of brick walls. The star that became a sphere that became a pointed mutant star-sphere and then back again. But they made me leave the mouse or the keyboard alone for a moment and enjoy the artwork. 

They made me want to take a break.

Back in the days of CRT and plasma screens, they were designed to prevent your monitor’s pixels from burning static images into your screen. Literally saving your screen. But now our monitors are a bit better. And I reckon they serve a different purpose. Maybe they’re not saving our screens from burning out. Maybe they’re saving us from burning out staring at the loading bars and spinning wheels that run our days.

So next time yours pops up. Try not to feel guilty.

Sit back and watch it for a while.