A page collects 65,000 skins of the famous WinAmp application, a kaledoscope that represents an entire era
Nostalgia grows from the routines of the past, and at one time, starting WinAmp was the first thing many did when they started the computer. The popular freeware application for listening to MP3, MIDI and other music formats grew as the sharing of music files through networks became popular. Piracy in many cases, yes, but also the gateway for many to listen to songs to which they did not have legal access, to open their senses to something beyond what sounded crushingly on the musical radio formulas and to begin to handle the helm of your taste in music.
The program was versatile, free, worked with few resources on any computer, and was also highly customizable, which not only boosted its popularity but also invited hundreds of artists to test themselves by making skins, which altered the minimalist presentation and allowed any user dump your hobbies, obsessions and tastes in the program. Needless to say, there were many that were linked to a popular video game, as we can see in Winamp Skin Museum, a web page that is dedicated to collecting thousands of these skins and exposing them in a very visual and effective way, with an infinite scroll that serves as a kaleidoscope of an entire era. By clicking on one, an interactive playback opens in which we can listen to music -including our own files-, to achieve the total effect of time travel.
Reflection of an era
Taking a quick look we can quickly find a multitude of references to video games: Final Fantasy VIII, Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country, Pokémon, Castlevania, Mario … we also find a multitude of references to anime, such as the eternal fascination for Rei Ayanami of Evangelion, so typical of the time, sharing focus with other classics such as Cowboy Bebop, Dragon Ball, Lain, Naruto … and a multitude of other names. Actors, series, movies, any subject was apt to appear in a WinAmp skin, more or less crudely and with more or less effort, depending on the talent and time dedicated by the creator.
Some creations deserve special mention, not linked to a theme, but capable of evoking a specific aesthetic and giving it a marked futuristic, medieval, mysterious or arcane tone by playing with the different options available. Some are fascinating examples of how to create an attractive and effective interface, others are excessively elaborate, although they are impressive in their overall composition. There are plenty of examples too of the “law of least effort”, but also brilliant displays of ingenuity and creativity.
WinAmp, which is still active despite a convulsive history of buying and selling and several setbacks in its development, no longer has the cultural impact of then, but there was a shared time in which many can feel reflected spending time to lower the scroll and remembering familiar themes or looking for that skin that was an inseparable part of your day to day in front of the computer.
