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Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

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Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#3

Post by functionmouse »

ideasphere wrote: post #2

Cyberdecks are nice for photos and build blog posts, but does anyone actually regularly use them?

no, they're plastic crap for kickstarter photos. not designed for human hands.

They once existed (see Sony Vaio P 2nd gen; coolest thing in the universe) but modern OEMs no longer have such taste.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#5

Post by colechristensen »

functionmouse wrote: post #3
ideasphere wrote: post #2

Cyberdecks are nice for photos and build blog posts, but does anyone actually regularly use them?

no, they're plastic crap for kickstarter photos. not designed for human hands. They once existed (see Sony Vaio P 2nd gen; coolest thing in the universe) but modern OEMs no longer have such taste.

I always wanted one of the tiny form factor laptops but during that period I had a specific need for a real non-usb hardware serial port and instead bought a laptop that actually had one which was very strange (2009 maybe?)

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#7

Post by nl »

I recently got a (good!) 3D printer, and that combined with Claude has got me building lots of custom hardware devices using ESP32s.

I don't really see the value in a full-computer experience (which seems to be what most cyberdecks try to do - badly) but I can see utility in "sidecar"-style hardware, which is more akin to a phone app but with a better experience because of custom hardware.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#8

Post by stackghost »

nl wrote: post #7

I recently got a (good!) 3D printer, and that combined with Claude has got me building lots of custom hardware devices using ESP32s. I don't really see the value in a full-computer experience (which seems to be what most cyberdecks try to do - badly) but I can see utility in "sidecar"-style hardware, which is more akin to a phone app but with a better experience because of custom hardware.

I'd be very interested in reading about the kinds of hardware projects you're doing with esp32s and your printer!

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#9

Post by yummypaint »

ideasphere wrote: post #2

Cyberdecks are nice for photos and build blog posts, but does anyone actually regularly use them?

For general compute they will lose to a laptop, but that isn't supposed to be their purpose. I think the best use cases require extra hardware that would make a laptop too bulky or awkward. For example a deck with a VNA, SDR, scope, and arbitrary waveform generator for field work with radio equipment. The traditional computer capabilities are sort of extra. Any sort of diagnostic "cart" with a dedicated computer and a bunch of test equipment could be a candidate for miniaturization.
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