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Google Images Terminal Easter Egg

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Quick Facts

ℹ️ Summary

A retro-styled terminal interface that simulates a 1980s-era BBS experience for searching Google Images.

👨‍💻 Creator

N. Landsteiner (www.masswerk.at)

🚀 Launched

2012

🟢 Status

Available on elgooG

Interact with the Easter Egg

Creation Background

Concept Overview

In the era before graphical web browsers, Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) provided a text-based way to connect and share information online. Users would use modems to dial into a central server, accessing message boards, files, and other services. This Easter egg, much like its companion, the Google Terminal Easter Egg, brings back the feel of that era.

The Google Images Terminal Easter Egg extends the concept of the original Google BBS Terminal, providing a unique way to search for images using a vintage-style terminal interface.

Inspiration and Development

This Easter egg was created by N. Landsteiner of mass:werk – media environments (www.masswerk.at) as a companion to his original "Google BBS Terminal." The inspiration was to provide a complete BBS-like experience, extending the retro aesthetic to image searching, a key component of the modern web.

This website hosts this impressive work, offering it as another example of creative web development and a tribute to the early days of the internet. It showcases how even seemingly complex tasks like image searching can be reimagined within a retro framework.

The Easter Egg Experience

Main Features

The Google Images Terminal Easter Egg shares the visual style of its companion, the Google Terminal Easter Egg. It features a green monochrome display, simulated flickering, and the characteristic look and feel of a vintage computer terminal connected to a BBS. However, instead of displaying text-based search results, it focuses on displaying images in a way that's compatible with the terminal environment.

The images are rendered using ASCII art, a method of creating images using text characters. This technique was common in the BBS era, where graphical capabilities were limited. The Easter egg cleverly adapts modern images to this retro format.

The experience provides a unique and surprising way to view image search results, blending the modern web with the aesthetics of the past.

How It Works

Using the Google Images Terminal Easter Egg is like searching for images through a time machine.

Steps to Interact with the Easter Egg

  1. Click on the button at the top of this page.
  2. You'll experience a simulated modem connection, similar to the original Google Terminal Easter Egg.
  3. Once connected, you'll be prompted to enter a search query.
  4. Type your image search term and press Enter.
  5. The search results will be displayed as ASCII art representations of the images, adapting to the terminal's limitations.
  6. You can continue to enter new search queries, experiencing a unique way to browse images.

The Google Images Terminal Easter Egg is a testament to N. Landsteiner's creative vision and technical skill. The original version can be found at [https://www.masswerk.at/googleBBS/images/](https://www.masswerk.at/googleBBS/images/), alongside its companion, the Google BBS Terminal. This Easter egg builds upon the original concept, showcasing the versatility of the terminal interface and the possibilities of retro-inspired web development.

It's a reminder that even the most advanced features of the modern web can be reimagined through the lens of the past, creating surprising and engaging experiences.

Conclusion

The Google Images Terminal Easter Egg is a remarkable addition to the world of online Easter eggs. It complements the Google Terminal Easter Egg, providing a complete retro-styled search experience. It demonstrates how creative coding can transform even familiar tasks like image searching into something unique and nostalgic. Although it's presented here as an unofficial Easter egg, it embodies the spirit of Google's hidden gems: offering a fun, interactive, and memorable experience that celebrates the history of technology and the ingenuity of its creator, N. Landsteiner.

We encourage you to explore the other Easter eggs available on elgoog.im, each offering a unique glimpse into the creative possibilities of the web.

Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ)

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Google Images Terminal

Credits

“Google Images Terminal – What Google Images would have looked like in the 1980s”
(c) 2012 mass:werk – media environments, N. Landsteiner, <www.masswerk.at>
A working service after a video by Squirrel-Monkey.com: “If Google were invented in the 80s”.

Google™ is a registered trademark of Google Inc., Mountain View, CA 94043, USA.
The artistic layout is the intellectual property of Squirrel-Monkey.com.

Disclaimer:
Neither this page nor the author of this page is in any affiliation with Google Inc. The page accesses search and news services by Google™ in order to provide realistic results in an artistic layout by SquirrelMonkey.com. The last item of any search results always provides a direct link to the corresponding Google™-search as provided by <www.google.com>.
This service connects directly to google.com without any intermediate service point or gateway. No search data is transmitted to or from this website.

Usage Notice:
•  Page back and forth in results using the cursor/arrow keys.
•  Return to the home screen and start a new search by hitting the "0"(zero) key .
•  Hit "ESC" to start a new search regardless of the application's current state.

Additional Features: URL Parameters & Special Queries:
q=query  ...  search term
u=username  ...  login as a specified user
kbd=1  ...  force to show a virtual keyboard
display=color  ...  set the display to color mode (default)
display=green  ...  set the display to monochrome green
display=amber  ...  set the display to monochrome amber
crt=1 or scanlines=1  ...  show scan lines
E.g., the following URL will give SpiderMan a search for "elgoog":
Link: /?u=SpiderMan&q=elgoog

See also:
•  “Google Terminal – Geek's method to access Google via terminal command lines in 1980s.” –
   <elgoog.im/terminal/>
•  Don't miss the “prequel”: “Google60 – Search Mad Men Style” – < www.masswerk.at/google60>
•  Gamified: “Google-Asteroids – Arcade Style Search” – < www.masswerk.at/googleAsteroids>
•  Archived: “Bing Terminal – What Bing would have looked like in the 80s” – <www.masswerk.at/bingBBS>

FAQ

What is Google Images Terminal?

Google Images Terminal is a web-based simulation that brings to life the look and feel of a classic terminal interface. It turns the page into a command-line interface, complete with ASCII art, monospaced fonts, and a blinking cursor. Here, you can enter commands to navigate Google Image Search in an old-school fashion.

The inspiration comes from a video by Squirrel-Monkey.com, which envisions Google's appearance in the 1980s. It's not an official Google Inc. product, but rather a creative rendition by N. Landsteiner.

Enjoy additional features like the virtual keyboard, color modes, scan lines, and specialized search queries.

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