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Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

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Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#31

Post by sandcat_ »

nl wrote: post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Are you sure this isn’t just because it’s the “wrong” people who are building them? Instead of the typical (older) FOSS/geek/whatever crowd?

It feels overly negative to me. People, mostly younger people, are building them, tinkering with them and are excited to post about them. Is it any surprise they’re doing so on TikTok or wherever? Yes, it’s a little ironic considering the anti-big-tech vibes mentioned in the article, but is it any different from when our lot were posting to Google+ etc?

I don’t know, this feels like a good thing to me, and something we should encourage. The more people playing and experimenting with tech rather than passively consuming the better.

If I was a teenager again today I like to think I’d be hacking one of these together.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#32

Post by nl »

sandcat_ wrote: post #31
nl wrote: post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Are you sure this isn’t just because it’s the “wrong” people who are building them? Instead of the typical (older) FOSS/geek/whatever crowd? It feels overly negative to me. People, mostly younger people, are building them, tinkering with them and are excited to post about them. Is it any surprise they’re doing so on TikTok or wherever? Yes, it’s a little ironic considering the anti-big-tech vibes mentioned in the art…

Hmm perhaps you are right.

I think I'd over indexed on the unfinished look of some of them, but relooking at them as prototypes instead of the level of the original set makes them seem more reasonable.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#33

Post by palmotea »

> Cyberdecks are changing for the better

> I say that cyberdecks are having another wave of resurgence because the interest in cyberdecks waxes and wanes, like everything in life, there is a cycle to the ideas coming into focus and out of focus, washing into the shore and washing back out to the sea of etheral thought.

> In my own view, cyberdecks have remained popular because of hacker culture. And all of the cultural norms wrapped up in hacker subcultures carries along with it. Specifically, the design of cyberdecks over the years has maintained a steady state of projects that maintain a military or scientific bend to them. They are afterall, influenced by science fiction about dystopian future societies that focus on war, dystopian corporate megacities, or interstellar travel.

AI or just terrible writing?

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#34

Post by cookiengineer »

nl wrote: post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

My opinion is somewhat that the last "real" cyberdeck was the Hackberry Pi, which is essentially the Blackberry I always wanted and that they never produced. Due to it being fully open, there's an insane amount of 3d printing community overlap, where people share their upgrades, designs, modifications and customizations.

Raspberry Pi as a platform has revolutionized access to computers in my opinion, though since the RAM crisis started not so much anymore due to the insane price differences. But the Hackberry is the computing device where I think it has lots of potential for being my actual "Linux on the go" that I wanted but never got ... for the last 15(?) years waiting for it.

[1] https://github.com/ZitaoTech/HackberryPiCM5

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#36

Post by stackghost »

sandcat_ wrote: post #31
nl wrote: post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Are you sure this isn’t just because it’s the “wrong” people who are building them? Instead of the typical (older) FOSS/geek/whatever crowd? It feels overly negative to me. People, mostly younger people, are building them, tinkering with them and are excited to post about them. Is it any surprise they’re doing so on TikTok or wherever? Yes, it’s a little ironic considering the anti-big-tech vibes mentioned in the art…

Most of the cyberdecks you see, though, are just cosmetic variations on "raspi in a pelican case". Some of those cosmetic variations are definitely impressive, but the guts are mostly the same between builds. The guy who 3D-printed a bespoke case to make it look like it was off the set of The Martian did an amazing job, but it's still just a raspberry pi, a display, and a USB mechanical keyboard, less interesting from a technical perspective than the one that's more or less the same, but using a beer can speaker and an 18V drill battery as a power supply, but again still just a raspi.

While there are definitely a few notable builds that involved actually-interesting technical problem solving, I think most cyberdecks make more sense through the lens of physical concept art exploring what a rugged or perhaps ultra-personalized personal computer can be.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#37

Post by hypfer »

sandcat_ wrote: post #31
nl wrote: post #25

I read the article and sadly I think the author missed a key thing that is going on. Yes, there are few people who created cyberdecks as a counter-culture, anti-company tool (which is a lot of what the author argues). But some of the newer ones they highlight are nothing more than engagement farming reels. They are the very definition of the opposite of what the author writes here: > We want to escape the algorithmic…

Are you sure this isn’t just because it’s the “wrong” people who are building them? Instead of the typical (older) FOSS/geek/whatever crowd? It feels overly negative to me. People, mostly younger people, are building them, tinkering with them and are excited to post about them. Is it any surprise they’re doing so on TikTok or wherever? Yes, it’s a little ironic considering the anti-big-tech vibes mentioned in the art…

Nah, it's not "the wrong people" but "the wrong purpose" with the purpose being no purpose or rather just "looking good on social media".

Which, don't get me wrong, is generally fine, because not everything has to be functional, art is important, bla bla bla. Problem however is when the algorithm gets involved and "being not part of the mainstream" becomes a mainstream metric to optimize for.

This feels like that, and - as it often has happened - it weaponizes the usual stuff to defend itself. Which we do not want, because the stuff it weaponizes is actually important, so it should not be tainted by the big value extraction machine in the cloud.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#38

Post by solomonb »

sublinear wrote: post #24
inigyou wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm imagining a computer set up for DJing with big-ass speakers on the outside top lid, and a bunch of analog controls on either side of the keyboard, and a heavy battery.

That's not only possible, but was done to death in the early 2000s during the heyday of car audio components, "home theater" PCs, iPods, and finally good enough laptops. If you built one of those you were automatically the DJ after school, at the skate park, etc. You better believe those SLA batteries were heavy.

The modern equivalant is the all-in-one karaoke machine :)

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#39

Post by cobertos »

nl wrote: post #22
cobertos wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any chance you have or could post pics of those custom HA controllers? Seeing custom interactables and how they integrate with ppl's environments are always suuuuper interesting

https://imgur.com/a/p7P1WBt One-shotted LVGL UI (which I think it a bit ugly). A Bluetooth gateway has a flat battery so 2 temperature sensors aren't getting relayed. This is a Guition ESP32-S3-4848S040 board with this case https://makerworld.com/en/models/2859961-guition-4-esp32-s3-... About $25 in total I think.

I love the fit and finish on the case. Neat to just one shot little control panels like that. Have you thought about making more? Context sensitive based on the room or activity in that area?

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#40

Post by rsingel »

nl wrote: post #30
chongli wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know of they fail to see this because they are blinded by their hope or there is a more complex viewpoint I'm missing. There is. "We want to escape" is a very different viewpoint from "we want to liberate the masses." Freeing yourself from the social media is definitely doable. Depending on how firmly engaged you are at the moment, it can vary in difficulty between fait accompli and moderately challenging. It…

> "We want to escape" is a very different viewpoint from "we want to liberate the masses." I don't think this is a point the author spoke about at all. To crudely summarize what I think their claim is: Cyberdecks are an anti-big tech creation. They are spreading outside traditional hackers and the proof is these reels . My claim is that cyberdecks are not spreading, and instead those reels is just evidence that (a) p…

They are spreading but the tech bro forums, as always, hate it. Make your case creative and not another grey 3d printed case? You'll either get ignored or condescended to.

Post your creation on a social channel not dominated by white bros?

You are fake, a culture miner and engagement farming.

See the post above for a textbook way of rejecting anyone who isn't a white tech bro.

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