When I contacted self-proclaimed “open source badass” CC for an interview, I was sure she would email me back from her pink mermaid purse.
“I really enjoy it.” She talks about her clam cyberdeck. “It’s a Tamagotchi. It’s also an e-book. It’s networked to my safe and a server, so it has access to all my server data, which includes all my PDFs, books, notes, etc. It’s also connected to my local AI setup at home.”
CC doesn’t have a background in software engineering or computer science, but she’s so adept at building unconventional cyber decks – tiny DIY computers – that she’s documented the process on her blog, Bimbo Tech, so other women can follow her lead, even if they don’t yet know what RAM is.
The idea for CyberDeck originated in William Gibson’s 1984 science fiction novel “Neuromancer,” and as credit card-sized computers like the Raspberry Pi hit the market in the 2010s, hardware enthusiasts began building and sharing their own CyberDecks in niche online communities. But in the past few months, these communities have exploded in popularity thanks to women on social media teaching each other how to create artistic, feminine computers by documenting their creation process.
“I joke that there’s an underlying misogyny in tech, because every time they release a pro model or an elite model… I’m always like, ‘It’s either black or silver,’” CC said. “It can never come out pink.”
The process of customizing and designing a cyberdeck has become an art form in itself. On Instagram and TikTok, you can find cyber decks made of wood and moss that run Game Boy Color games. a desert-inspired MP3 player embedded inside a 3D printed fossil; a Barbie dollhouse revealing a functional mini-computer; Alternatively, there is also a duck statue that can be used to record voice notes.
“I don’t want meta AI glasses. I want to pirate books in little decorative shells,” creator Sarahbelle Kim said on TikTok. “No one can watch you there. You can get basic parts from a thrift store or eBay and customize it.”
There is clearly an aesthetic motivation behind the emergence of feminine cyberdecks. ~ no Do you use Hello Kitty Wallet to check your email? It’s fun for fun’s sake. But the women who create these top-notch, dazzling cyber decks aren’t just in it for the glamor. This trend is reaching a peak at a time when people feel powerless against the omnipresent homogeneity of Big Tech.
“I think this is very refreshing for Apple and for people who sell similar devices, if you try to jailbreak it or do anything to this phone that you paid $1,000 to own, it won’t be covered under warranty,” CC said. “So I love seeing people taking back power and taking control back into their hands. That obviously always means creativity when people are given the means to step outside the black box.”
Maro Vardanyan is a blockchain developer and although he does not work with hardware, he has always enjoyed collecting and tinkering with old computer parts.
“A few months ago, I started a hobby of recycling or upcycling my old computers to make art, jewelry and wallets,” she said. “When I saw everyone making cyberdecks, I thought, ‘Wait a minute. Why are we doing recycling and upcycling when we can actually preserve pieces of something wearable and movable?”
Vardanyan took a different approach to building the Cyberdeck, instead emphasizing the historical relationship between textile arts and technology. Vardanyan calls her work “computerized knitting” or “macramé motherboard,” a deliberate nod to the role of weaving (a practice often seen as the labor of domestic women) in the early history of computing.
Before silicon processors, some early computers ran on magnetic core memory consisting of precisely threaded copper wiring to encode the 1s and 0s of binary code. For example, to help NASA create the Apollo Guidance Computer, expert female textile workers were tasked with painstakingly meticulously weaving wires into intricate patterns that powered the spacecraft that landed the first man on the moon.
“The original processors were handwoven by seamstresses, not engineers or anyone else,” she said. “It feels like hand-weaving, or even fashion, meets technology… It’s really a full circle.”
Vardanyan began knitting pink raspberry pies into purses and corsets, posting photos of her work in progress on X.
“Of course, when macramé went viral, all the guys were like, ‘This is such a waste of the Raspberry Pi,’ and ‘What if it rains?’” she said. “Then you have to say, ‘It’s actually preserved in an acrylic shell.’ And they say, ‘This is so powerful that the GPIO is going to lose energy!’ And I’m like, ‘It’s actually using conductive thread, so it looks like it’s actually going to move and work properly.’”
CC has also encountered arrogant men on the Internet who balk at the idea that someone would use a Raspberry Pi for something as trivial as a clam purse computer when it is low on RAM.
“One person on Reddit said, ‘Calm down, I built my first computer a month ago.’ I’ve been building PCs for years,” CC said. “So long story short, he ended up apologizing and buying me a circuit board for my next cyberdeck.”
From CC’s mermaid purse computer to Vardanyan’s Raspberry Pi corset, these cyber decks are not only a direct rejection of Silicon Valley culture, but also a fierce embrace of the color pink. This is intentionally impractical and inefficient. This seems like sacrilege in a culture so obsessed with optimization that unregulated Chinese peptide injections are trendy. Opting for a hacked DIY technological experience to forge a closer relationship with a device that feels so abstract despite its ubiquity is a radical move.
“Ten years ago, when I walked into a conference, there were three girls and people were literally asking, ‘Are you hired on the marketing team?’” Vardanyan said. “I can’t tell you how amazing it is to see so many girls on social media and Instagram getting into hardware and software and educating each other. This is definitely an energy that we are missing at all levels of society.”
If you purchase through links in our articles, we may receive a small commission. This does not affect our editorial independence.
