Let’s be honest. It’s been a while since you’ve seen this classic blue screen of death. Windows 2000 had a fairly unassuming blue screen of death, while the new Vista/Windows 7 model is a bit too verbose to really be endearing.
But the Windows 95 version has gone down in infamy, perhaps for its brutal honesty and simplicity; it begins with saying “a fatal exception has occurred”, and it’s all downhill from there. Maybe I’m wrong, and, it’s simply become memorable because older computers were more likely to crash in a spectacular fashion than newer ones. Whatever the reason, it’s the error of choice for this BSOD T-shirt design by Carlos Escárrega.
However, it’s not just any computer going through the pain of a critical error – it’s the Swan Computer from the TV show Lost. I didn’t even see this connection until I realized that the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 were written on the side of the device – these numbers are heavily associated with the show. Besides that, the DHARMA Initiative logo should have been enough of a tip-off that it had something to do with Lost, as this logo is seen just about everywhere on the Island.
Within that context, it does make sense that a vintage error screen would be displayed, though judging by the fact that the Swan Computer looks like a chimera of old Apple computers, I’d expect it to have a Sad Mac error instead. Even if it was somehow a Windows-based system, the computer dates from somewhere around the 80s, whereas the first appearance of the classic blue screen of death is in 1995.
If you’re not a fan of Lost, the T-shirt is still a cool and “ironic” find, as it just looks like a depiction of an Apple II computer suffering a Windows-based error. In a way, it almost echoes the Windows-running ability of current Macs, so it’s pretty ideal if you’re a fan of the Mac/Windows hybrid.
There’s a similar blue screen of death T-shirt from the famous Errorwear, a company specializing in error-induced fashion. Also fashionable is this BSOD belt which would add a nice puch of geekery to an ensemble if wearing a nerdy top is just too much for you. If you hate error messages and fashion equally, then you might just want to take your rage out on this BSOD stress toy instead.
