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Show HN: I built a cyberdeck just for fun
- Ambolia 4y agoLooks cool! The Cyberdeck builts I've seen make me wonder if somebody is experimenting with alternative input methods for hand-help devices. Currently to work, you either need a decent surface to put the device and type in a normal (small) keyboard, or be condemned to use thumb-typing or slide-typing in handheld devices which is terrible for anything except maybe for writing English with a spell corrector. I guess we have chorded keyboards, but not sure how fasts those are for entering text, or if anybody has tried to combine them with a screen into a single hand-held device.
- shakna 4y ago> I guess we have chorded keyboards, but not sure how fasts those are for entering text, or if anybody has tried to combine them with a screen into a single hand-held device. T9 was blisteringly fast with 12 buttons, a tiny screen, and a rather stupid prediction engine. I'd say we have tried it before, and it worked exceptionally well within the constraints it had. The leaps and bounds made in predictive text since then should make it somewhat viable for other applications.
- pettycashstash2 4y agoI’m unfamiliar with What a cyber deck used for?
- sschueller 4y agoThere is no specific use (at least for me at the moment). It's just a prop I guess although it's fully functional. The whole thing for me was more the process of building it.
- 0des 4y ago
- AlanYx 4y agoSome in the cyberdeck community build these as mobile coding stations, for example a way to head to the park or a coffee shop to run emacs without any of the distractions of their regular machines. Some use them as mobile writing machines, like an old school wordprocessor (think Tandy WP1). There's another big portion of the cyberdeck community that's primarily in it for the aesthetics. Or a combination of all of the above. The hobby is kind of about personal computing in the personal, idiosyncratic sense of the word.
- drcongo 4y agoGreat answer, thanks, I was wondering the same. I love the "switch" switches on this one, especially the one with a red fold-down safety.
- z3phyr 4y agoThe aesthetics of a 1) mobile 2) rugged 3) cryptomachine straight out of cipherpunk universe.
- WalterGR 4y ago> cipherpunk HERESY! Cyberpunk.
- sumthinprofound 4y agoNeuromancer vibes. I like it.
- tjwds 4y agoAwesome! Love the slot for the Flipper.
- camtarn 4y agoLove the auxiliary screen/numpad/controls on the right hand side - very cool. I imagine the screen being used for an Uplink-style 'seconds until hack detected' counter ;)
- caymanjim 4y agoWhat is a cyberdeck? I googled and still don't know. It seems like a blanket term for "homemade laptop". I'm well aware of what the fictional one is.
- jrmg 4y agoIt sounds like you do know!
- speed_spread 4y agoIt's an attempt at producing the real-life thing. IMO a cyberdeck would have no built-in screen but rather provide a good goggles or neural interface. Also would be styled like a music instrument, like a guitar or a synth, for the evil genius rock star look.
- nivenkos 4y agoTake it through the airport.
- ginko 4y ago16-year-old-me would have absolutely loved cyberdecks. Too bad grown-up-me realizes that he has absolutely zero use for one.
- sschueller 4y agoDidn't stop me and I am way older than that. Sometimes you just need to play in your free time.