Cyberdecks are having a moment. But they're not quite as original as many of their Gen Z makers might think.
These quirky, personalized DIY computer builds, often with impractically tiny keyboards, keep appearing in new forms on Instagram and TikTok. They include cyberdecks crammed inside Altoids tins, reading cyberdecks that look like books, and suitcase cyberdecks for music production.
Most telling are the so-called girly cyberdecks, mostly made by women with deliberately over-the-top bling, such as the gold clamshell model with gold ring-covered mouse from TikTok user Ube Boobey. The London-based 22-year-old has garnered more than 5 million views since posting her first cyberdeck, back in March.
"I have no previous experience with tech," noted Boobey, real name Annike Tan, on her first post. "That's not a cyberdeck, it's a load of components stuffed in a clutch bag," griped one commenter. "Yeah U right," Tan responded, deadpan.
And yet, the load of components worked — so much so that Tan got what most startup founders would kill for, a Wired magazine feature, a mere month later. This was no mere retro trend; these charmingly amateur computer builds caught a mood, an exhaustion with the tech establishment, a need to revolt against the prevailing winds of Silicon Valley.
