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Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

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Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#41

Post by d3Xt3r »

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.

GPD makes several devices that come close to the old compact Vaios. I have the GPD Win Mini and it's a pretty capable machine - 32GB RAM, 2TB storage, RDNA 3.5 gfx, built-in gamepad, full set of ports.

The keyboard is surprisingly usable, although of course nowhere close to that of a laptop, but still usable for short periods. I got a fully fleshed out Arch gaming setup (manual install) and I use it on a regular basis like a Steam Deck and just a portable dev/test machine at work.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#42

Post by utopiah »

"Yeah I don't get it..." meanwhile me packing for holiday with my GrapheneOS Pixel with my 3D printed phone stand and my BT mechanical keyboard "Wait a minute!"

Also gave a workshop last weekends to kids and brought a "server" as a RPi Zero and a cheap (as in goodie level) tiny battery.

Damned, I'm part of the "movement".

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#43

Post by y1n0 »

I think these things are interesting, but I grew up on neuromancer...and so I have some cognitive dissonance when I see these described as cyberdecks and see screens.

I get that the term has moved on, and cyberdeck means whatever people say it means now. But to me, these are just novel retro diy laptops. I think given today's technology you could sort of a approximate a cyberdeck with some low end ar/vr glasses like something from xreal and ditch the screen.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#44

Post by y1n0 »

inigyou wrote: post #14

At CCCamp 2023 was someone showing off how they converted a laptop with a broken screen into a cyberdeck by removing the screen and permanently connecting the bottom half to VR glasses. There was also a musical Tesla coil. And some group called Anderstorp, who converted a massive obsolete router into a beer tap.

Now this would at least resemble a cyberdeck from the books.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#46

Post by _glass »

y1n0 wrote: post #43

I think these things are interesting, but I grew up on neuromancer...and so I have some cognitive dissonance when I see these described as cyberdecks and see screens. I get that the term has moved on, and cyberdeck means whatever people say it means now. But to me, these are just novel retro diy laptops. I think given today's technology you could sort of a approximate a cyberdeck with some low end ar/vr glasses like…

that's why I still love the quest3, just for the potential. but xreal makes more sense, and then a more open platform. but I think post-covid we approach neuromancer more than ever.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#47

Post by nl »

rsingel wrote: post #40
nl wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "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.

I wrote the above post. I like the creative cases!

But maybe you are right and it isn't just engagement mining. I think my problem is more that I'm comparing the level of finish on the original cyberdecks to these ones, and they don't compare well.

But perhaps I should be thinking of these as prototype level ones.

(It's also very valid to point out the original ones were so well finished because they were engagement mining too)

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#48

Post by globular-toast »

> Technology was supposed to connect us[...]

Was it? According to whom? The quoted phrase is pretty much a meme at this point, but I don't think it's true. This would suggest people in the 80s and 90s were sitting around feeling lonely and isolated, wishing they could be "more connected".

Technology has always been about one thing: giving people more freedom. Whether it's the ability to make coffee at home, or travel vast distances at great speeds whenever you want to, it's all about people being free from the constraints of relying on society (and the environment) for things.

It's all fundamentally counter to a cohesive society. It was never going to make us "more connected", quite the contrary. Asimov saw where this was going half a century ago. In his books the Solarians took technology to the extreme, allowing them to live alone on enormous estates affording them all the freedom in the world. But they were alone, communicating only remotely through screens. They didn't even have sex any more. Sound familiar?

When I read this as a teen it totally put me off "freedom" as the singular goal so many people treat it as. I didn't want to end up like that. I don't want to be alone. Life is about sharing and technology is never going to help with that, it's only going to make it worse, if we let it.

> This is apparent in the rise of "journal tok", where people on TikTok are posting about returning to written journals, planners, and sketchbooks.

Is this intended to be ironic? People will do anything for views on TikTok, including making videos about not using TikTok. If anyone does anything and puts it on TikTok, or other social media, I assume they're doing it for the views, not because they actually enjoy it. If you want to find someone who enjoys cooking, find someone who will cook and eat with you, don't look on TikTok. If you want to find someone who doesn't like TikTok, well, guess where you won't find them.

The rest of the article is filled with TikTok videos which I'm not going to watch.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#49

Post by nl »

cobertos wrote: post #39
nl wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

Yes the fit & finish is pretty nice.

Currently it's mostly a case of building them to solve specific problems, and I don't really have much else I need. This one controls my temperature and lighting for when I don't want to pick up my phone.

I have physical switches for most things too.

Re: Cyberdecks, going analog, and convivial technology

#50

Post by alexisread »

cookiengineer wrote: post #34
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…

Depends what you define as a cyberdeck. If you look low power/ non-linux there are many innovative decks: https://hackaday.com/2023/03/06/low-power-challenge-the-pota...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HK0uAKkt0AE colorforth deck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kn0MxHlima0 discrete deck built like the tandy 1000

If Cyberdeck builds get people building, then it's all good. Farming does encourage others to build so it's all heading in the right direction :)

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