In the age of AI and online surveillance, cyberpunks are creating "cyberdecks": homemade, portable computers out of big tech's reach.
Though many new tech tools are shaping the world's digital future, one is driving users back to the past: a time when a simpler, less corporatized, and aggressively monitored online reality once existed.
It's called the cyberdeck, and it's a way fringe and anti-establishment engineers and cyberpunks are creating a digital identity all their own.
What is a cyberdeck?
First coined by William Gibson in his 1984 sci-fi novel Neuromancer, the term refers to a homemade, portable computer used to access an online interface.
Since its mention in the dystopian novel, cyberdecks have been a staple of the cyberpunk genre and aesthetic.
How do you build one?
Building a cyberdeck can be as simple or as complex as you want it to be, and as individualized and personalized as the engineer would like. The most basic configuration includes four components:
- The "brains" (CPU, RAM, repurposed laptop/mini pc motherboards—a simple SBC like the Raspberry Pi is a popular choice)
- An input device (like a keyboard or mouse)
- A screen.
- An enclosure or case to put the three parts.
Why are people building them now?
In the early 2020s, tech overreach was at an all-time high. The construction of cyberdecks became a way to combat the unbounded corporatization, invasiveness, and homogeneity of widespread tech, in addition to individualizing the tech experience according to a user's aesthetic.
"Whatever that is, I need one"
On Reddit and TikTok, users like @ubeboobey would share their cyberdeck journeys—including finding a case, creating a style, and making the technology all work together.
Users on both platforms embraced the individualism and beauty of the cyberdeck.
"Just feels right for some reason," one comment read.
"Whatever that is, I need one," said another.
"This is the future I was promised as a little girl," still another comment read.
According to the cyberdeck movement, the future promised as a little girl...starts right now.
The Daily Dot has reached out to @ubeboobey via direct message on TikTok and Instagram. The creator did not immediately respond to the request for comment.
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