When I reach out to self-proclaimed “open source bad guy” CC for an interview, I’m sure she’ll email me back from her pink mermaid purse.
“I’m having a lot of fun with it,” she says of the seashell cyberdeck. “It’s a Tamagotchi. It’s also an e-book reader. It’s networked to my vault and server, so it has access to all my server data, which includes all my PDFs, books, notes, everything. It’s also connected to my local AI setup at home.”
Although CC doesn’t have a background in software engineering or computer science, she’s skilled enough to build unconventional cyberdecks (small DIY computers) and chronicles her process on her blog Bimbo Tech so other women can follow in her lead, even if they don’t yet know what RAM is.
The idea for a cyberdeck stems from 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 their own cyberdecks and sharing them in niche online communities. But in recent months, these communities have exploded in popularity as women on social media teach each other the artistic and very feminine way of building computers by documenting the building process.
“I always have this joke that there’s misogyny at the core of the tech industry, because every time they release a pro model or an elite model, I always think it’s black or silver,” CC said. “It won’t turn pink.”
The process of customizing and designing a cyberdeck has become an art form in itself. On Instagram and TikTok, you can find cyberdecks made of wood and moss that run Game Boy Color games. A desert-inspired MP3 player built into a 3D printed fossil. A Barbie doll house that opens to reveal a functioning mini-computer. Or a duck figurine that can be used to record voice notes.
“I don’t want meta-AI glasses. I want to pirate a book in a little decorated shell,” author Sarabel Kim said on TikTok. “No one can watch you there. You just get some basic parts at a thrift store or on eBay and customize it.”
The rise of girly cyber decks has clear aesthetic motivations. Why not use a Hello Kitty wallet to check your email? Fun for fun’s sake. But the women who build these flashy, dazzling cyberdecks aren’t just in it for the glitz. This trend is coming to a head at a time when people feel powerless against the omnipresent homogeneity of big technology.
“I think this is very refreshing for people who have been sold devices like Apple. If you try to jailbreak or do anything to this phone that you paid $1,000 to own, it’s not covered under warranty,” CC said. “That’s why I love seeing people taking power back into their own hands, taking control back into their own hands. When people are given the means to step outside of the black box, that obviously always means creativity.”
Maro Vardanyan doesn’t work with hardware as a blockchain developer, but he always enjoys collecting and tinkering with old computer parts.
“A few months ago, I just started making art and jewelry pieces and wallets as a hobby by recycling or upcycling old computers I had,” she said. “When I saw everyone making cyberdecks, I thought, wait a minute, why am I making all the recycled and upcycled stuff when I can actually store the pieces in something wearable and transportable?”
Vardanyan took a different approach to building Cyberdeck, choosing instead to emphasize the historical relationship between fiber art and technology. Vardanyan calls her work “computer crochet” or “macrame motherboard”, a deliberate nod to the role of weaving (domestic labor, an act often considered women’s labor) in the history of early computing.
Before the advent of silicon processors, some early computers ran on magnetic core memory consisting of precisely threaded copper wires to encode the ones and zeros of binary code. For example, for NASA to build the Apollo guidance computer, expert female textile workers were tasked with meticulously weaving wire in painstakingly intricate patterns. This powered the spacecraft that became the first humans to land on the moon.
“The original processor was hand-woven by seamstresses, not engineers or anyone else,” she said. “I feel like it’s a fusion of handloom and even fashion and technology…it’s coming full circle.”
Vardanyan began weaving pink raspberry piste to make handbags and corsets, and later posted photos of her work on X.
“Of course, when macrame came up, all the men were like, ‘What a waste of a Raspberry Pi,’ or, ‘What’s wrong with the rain?'” she says. “And you have to say, ‘Actually, this is stored inside an acrylic shell.’ And they say, ‘This is so high-performance that it’s going to kill the GPIO energy!’ And I’m like, “Actually, it’s using conductive thread, so it’s going to actually move and work perfectly.” ”
CC has also encountered some condescending men on the internet who balk at the idea of someone using a Raspberry Pi for something as frivolous as a shell wallet computer when they’re low on RAM.
“The guy on Reddit was like, ‘You built your first computer a month ago, calm down.'” Let me tell you, I’ve been building PCs for years,” CC said. “Basically, he ends up apologizing and buying me a circuit board for my next Cyberdeck.”
From CC’s mermaid handbag computer to Vardanyan’s Raspberry Pi corset, these cyberdecks are a direct rejection of Silicon Valley culture. It’s not just about a terrible acceptance of the color pink. These are impractical and intentionally inefficient, but they seem blasphemous in a culture so obsessed with optimization that unregulated Chinese peptide injections are all the rage. Opting for a hacky DIY tech experience to forge a closer relationship with a device that feels so ubiquitous yet so abstract is a radical move.
“Ten years ago, I would go to a conference and there would be three girls there and people would literally be like, ‘Hey, you got hired on the marketing team?’” Vardanyan says. “I can’t tell you how amazing it is to see so many girls interested and educated in hardware and software on my social media and Instagram pages. [each other]And that is definitely the energy that we are missing at every level of society. ”
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