In the epoch of doomscrolling and digital surveillance, cyberdecks may offer a chic and brightly colored escape.
In parallel with increasing growing digital skepticism, there’s a clear large-scale trend toward analog, physical media, and “dumb devices.” With mass cultural revival of vinyl sales, Kodak and Fujifilm’s reported demand for 35mm, and polaroid mania. Svedka’s promotion for their flip phones as a cure for screen fatigue, and dumb.co’s “month offline” campaign, users are challenged to spend a month with just a “dumb phone.”
The backlash toward AI data centers and silicon valley’s all-consuming ever presence in modern life has inspired some young adults to completely lean into their Luddite sensitivities. New York just saw the end of The Summer of Ludd, an “anti Big Tech Festival” which attracted crowds of hundreds despite being promoted and held entirely offline.
A cyberdeck is a DIY personal computer, made from secondhand materials and recycled technology. From there, the capabilities can go anywhere. It’s like a fingerprint, unique to the builder and their needs.
Builder and creator Cindy who goes by CircuitCindy online, and began gaining attention for builds inspired and used by her cat, Kirby. A cat slot machine and a treat piano are among her greatest hits. Cindy’s cyberdeck is likewise a mini PC for Kirby and demonstrates the signature pastels and nostalgic influences characteristic to both Cindy and her builds.
“I’d always thought of myself as a STEM person, I never thought I could be a creative person too. Building the Yakult Lamp late last year was what rewired my brain to think this way, it was the first time I really leaned into making something functional but full of personality instead of just utilitarian and janky.”
Building one is easier than you think. It requires a handful of inexpensive and occasionally free or recycled materials. And it’s all python from there. Projects range in complexity, and there are endless beginner friendly options.
Builds have been regarded as doomsday/anti-surveillance devices for their offline tradition; particularly around the tail end of the 90s, when there was a mass hysteria that advanced computing systems would erupt in the turn of the century and bring down global infrastructure.
The actual damages of the “Y2K Problem” did not size up to the expectations of the panicked masses, but it did inspire an ethos of autonomy and individuality among cyberdeckers. That legacy has held if not been amplified in the AI renaissance.
“What I really love about this community is that people are just genuinely curious about what you’re working on, and people love bouncing ideas off of each other. It’s one of the most welcoming spaces I’ve ever had the privilege of being part of.“
Circuit Cindy
“A little doomsday-ish, making this self-sufficient sometimes solar-powered knick-knack, but we are grasping for a hopeful future, and we wanna rely less on things that we don’t have control over,” said Sarahbelle Kim on TikTok. “No one can surveil you there. You can get some basic parts at the thrift store or eBay and just customize it.”
Cyberdecking is a continued endeavor for many prominent builders, indicating a growing if not strong community atmosphere – one that values shared knowledge and self-teaching, often coaching each other in comment sections and message boards.
Cindy said, “My online presence has connected me with a lot of people across the maker community broadly, engineers, hobbyists, entrepreneurs, and creators who share my interest in learning and love for tinkering. What I really love about this community is that people are just genuinely curious about what you’re working on, and people love bouncing ideas off of each other. It’s one of the most welcoming spaces I’ve ever had the privilege of being part of.”
According to Google Trends “Cyberdecks, which reached all-time high search interest this year, are moving from specialized tech circles into a mainstream DIY trend…Breakout searches for “cyberdeck girly“ and “book“ styles show a growing focus on personal aesthetics and custom-built designs.”
The accessibility of this hobby is in its simplicity. In a world of macbooks, a Nokia cell phone turned into a tamagotchi may not measure up in terms of sophistication. But it has inspired many regular folk like us to take matters into their own hands, and to remember something we’ve forgotten in the last two decades.
“[It’s] about wanting something tactile and intentional in a world that’s gotten very frictionless and algorithmic. Building something with your hands also gives you a kind of ownership and understanding that just consuming a finished product doesn’t, and that’s been around long before Gen Z,” said CircuitCindy. “I’d say most people like me actually embrace technology, we’re just as excited to learn from it as we are to build something with our hands.”
All images courtesy of Circuit Cindy.
