3 ms·

Random musings: 80s hardware, cyberdecks

39 points by speckx 7mo ago

xnx 7mo ago
I hadn't heard of "cyberdecks" until a month ago, but the term seems to have first become popular in November 2020: https://trends.google.com/explore?q=cyberdeck&date=all&geo=US https://trends.google.com/explore?q=cyberdeck&date=all&geo=U...
- free-nachos 7mo ago
  Cyberdecks were featured prominently in video game Cyberpunk 2077 - the 2020 and 2023 spikes may have been caused by that game, and the subsequent expansion.
- deleted 7mo ago
  [deleted]
- ErroneousBosh 7mo ago
  I think it's probably older than that, related to "cyberspace decks" in William Gibson's Neuromancer which was written in the early 80s on a 50-year-old mechanical typewriter.
  - throwthrowuknow 7mo ago
    Yes and then in the TTRPG Shadowrun
- flir 7mo ago
  fyi https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberdeck&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberdeck&year... (I'd like to know who was using "cyberdeck" in 1976)
  - flir 7mo ago
    Ok, I see - it's a consequence of the smoothing function used in the graph. First actual use is 1979.
SauntSolaire 7mo ago
Reminds me of when I visited Huaqiangbei for the first time in 2024. I had a vision of a cyberpunk tech market full of unique, hacked-together gizmos and gadgets, and was very disappointed to find that every stall sold the same knockoff airpods, electric air blowers, and discount drones. I would have been ecstatic to stumble upon some underground cyberdeck shop there, but alas, just worse quality versions of the same stuff you could find at Best Buy.
113 7mo ago
I first encountered cyberdecks a while ago and thought they were a fun idea for hacking about but more recently I've started seeing videos of beginners making them by cramming raspberry pis into random cases salvaged from second hand shops. It's been really cool to see people creating hardware without worrying about the usual limitations of soldering or 3d printing. Some have more technical ability than others and have salvaged screens or other bits from random electronics. It feels like a rediscovery of hacker ethos without the slightly toxic baggage of maker culture.
- SauntSolaire 7mo ago
  I like the look of them, but have never understood what people actually use them for.
  - JuniperMesos 7mo ago
    Yeah, it's a fun, retro aesthetic; but I also care about having computers on my person that are genuinely useful for things I want to do, just as my smartphone is useful.
  - korse 7mo ago
    Generally, they don't use them for anything. Kind of cyberpunk LARPing or something. They actually have a purpose, if you're in a role where you need to interface with a lot electro-mechanical stuff of varying vintage though. Basically ends up being a pelican case with a fat battery, a small network with short patch cables for reconfiguration on the go, two SBCs running windows IOT and linux, a PLC + 2/3 I/O cards, a CAN adapter and some space for 6 inches of terminal block on a DIN rail. Then a keyboard + monitor. Maybe not as sexy as some people make but it is a cyberdeck/briefcase lab and it will allow you probe most distressed machines without having to waste time running around for supplies or back and forth to offices. The way many manufacturers are structured however, there is too much red-tape and osha for this to be a reality for a lot of people, at least in the usa. It does exist in some places though.
    - ghostpepper 7mo ago
back7co 7mo ago
Having made several cyberdecks over the years and run the whole Pelican case thread longer than ideal, it has been about making custom one-off builds. There are really no limits other than attention span, budget, and design/build skills. I've seen some held together with hot glue that are just as cool as others from those with access to CNC facilities. Personally, they have been a great vehicle for me to push my boundaries in 3D printing and get from Tinkercad to Fusion 360, having fun the entire time. (of course a plug for https://doscher.com https://doscher.com)

39 points by speckx 7mo ago

xnx 7mo ago

I hadn't heard of "cyberdecks" until a month ago, but the term seems to have first become popular in November 2020: https://trends.google.com/explore?q=cyberdeck&date=all&geo=US https://trends.google.com/explore?q=cyberdeck&date=all&geo=U...

free-nachos 7mo ago
Cyberdecks were featured prominently in video game Cyberpunk 2077 - the 2020 and 2023 spikes may have been caused by that game, and the subsequent expansion.
deleted 7mo ago
[deleted]
ErroneousBosh 7mo ago
I think it's probably older than that, related to "cyberspace decks" in William Gibson's Neuromancer which was written in the early 80s on a 50-year-old mechanical typewriter.
- throwthrowuknow 7mo ago
  Yes and then in the TTRPG Shadowrun
flir 7mo ago
fyi https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberdeck&year_start=1800&year_end=2022&corpus=en&smoothing=3 https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=cyberdeck&year... (I'd like to know who was using "cyberdeck" in 1976)
- flir 7mo ago
  Ok, I see - it's a consequence of the smoothing function used in the graph. First actual use is 1979.

SauntSolaire 7mo ago

Reminds me of when I visited Huaqiangbei for the first time in 2024. I had a vision of a cyberpunk tech market full of unique, hacked-together gizmos and gadgets, and was very disappointed to find that every stall sold the same knockoff airpods, electric air blowers, and discount drones. I would have been ecstatic to stumble upon some underground cyberdeck shop there, but alas, just worse quality versions of the same stuff you could find at Best Buy.

113 7mo ago

I first encountered cyberdecks a while ago and thought they were a fun idea for hacking about but more recently I've started seeing videos of beginners making them by cramming raspberry pis into random cases salvaged from second hand shops. It's been really cool to see people creating hardware without worrying about the usual limitations of soldering or 3d printing. Some have more technical ability than others and have salvaged screens or other bits from random electronics. It feels like a rediscovery of hacker ethos without the slightly toxic baggage of maker culture.

SauntSolaire 7mo ago
I like the look of them, but have never understood what people actually use them for.
- JuniperMesos 7mo ago
  Yeah, it's a fun, retro aesthetic; but I also care about having computers on my person that are genuinely useful for things I want to do, just as my smartphone is useful.
- korse 7mo ago
  Generally, they don't use them for anything. Kind of cyberpunk LARPing or something. They actually have a purpose, if you're in a role where you need to interface with a lot electro-mechanical stuff of varying vintage though. Basically ends up being a pelican case with a fat battery, a small network with short patch cables for reconfiguration on the go, two SBCs running windows IOT and linux, a PLC + 2/3 I/O cards, a CAN adapter and some space for 6 inches of terminal block on a DIN rail. Then a keyboard + monitor. Maybe not as sexy as some people make but it is a cyberdeck/briefcase lab and it will allow you probe most distressed machines without having to waste time running around for supplies or back and forth to offices. The way many manufacturers are structured however, there is too much red-tape and osha for this to be a reality for a lot of people, at least in the usa. It does exist in some places though.
  - ghostpepper 7mo ago

back7co 7mo ago

Having made several cyberdecks over the years and run the whole Pelican case thread longer than ideal, it has been about making custom one-off builds. There are really no limits other than attention span, budget, and design/build skills. I've seen some held together with hot glue that are just as cool as others from those with access to CNC facilities. Personally, they have been a great vehicle for me to push my boundaries in 3D printing and get from Tinkercad to Fusion 360, having fun the entire time. (of course a plug for https://doscher.com https://doscher.com)