When I contact the self-proclaimed “open source bad guy” CC for an interview, I’m pretty sure she’s emailing me back from a mermaid pink purse.
“I’m having so much fun,” she tells me about herself shell cyberdeck. “It’s a Tamagotchi. It’s also an e-reader. It’s connected to my vault and my servers, so it has access to all the data on my server, which has all my PDFs, my books, my notes, and everything… It’s also connected to my local AI setup at home.”
CC has no background in software engineering or computer science, but she is good enough at building unconventional cyberdecks – small DIY computers – to document the process on her blog. Bimbo Tech so that other women can follow her example, even if they don’t yet know what AMR is.
The idea of the cyberdeck originated in William Gibson’s 1984 science fiction novel “Neuromancer,” and when credit card-sized computers like the Raspberry Pi hit the market in the 2010s, hardware enthusiasts began creating and sharing their own cyberdecks in niche online communities. But in recent months, these communities have exploded in popularity thanks to women on social media teaching each other how to build artistic, hyper-feminine computers by documenting their building processes.
“I have a running joke that there’s this underlying misogyny in tech — because every time they release a professional model or an elite model… I’m always like, let me guess, it’s black or silver,” CC said. “It will never be rosy.”
The process of customizing and designing a cyberdeck has become an art form in itself. On Instagram and TikTok you can find a cyberdeck in wood and foam which runs Game Boy Color games; A desert inspired MP3 player built inside a 3D printed fossil; A Barbie doll house which opens to reveal a working mini-computer; or a duck figurine which can be used to record voice notes.
“I don’t want Meta AI glasses. I want to hack books in a little ornate shell,” the designer said. Sarahbelle Kim on TikTok. “No one can watch you there. You can get basic pieces at a thrift store or on eBay and just customize them.”
There’s obviously an aesthetic motivation for the rise of girly cyberdecks – why not use a Hello Kitty purse to check your emails? It’s fun for its own sake. But the women who build these extravagant, dazzling cyberdecks aren’t there just for the sparkle. This trend is peaking at a time when people feel powerless against the pervasive homogeneity of big tech.
“I think it’s such a refreshing thing for people who have been sold these devices like Apple’s… If you try to jailbreak it, if you try to do anything on that phone that you paid $1,000 for and you own, it’s out of warranty,” CC said. “So I love seeing people take the power back into their hands, take the control back into their hands, which obviously always means creativity when you empower people to get out of the black box.”
Maro Vardanyan doesn’t work with hardware as a blockchain developer, but she has always loved collecting and tinkering with old computer parts.
“A few months ago, I started as a hobby creating art pieces, jewelry and handbags with old recycled or upcycled computers that I had,” she said. “When I saw everyone making cyberdecks, I was like, wait, why am I just making cyberdecks when I can actually preserve the parts of something that’s portable, that’s mobile?”
Vardanyan took a different approach in building cyberdecks, choosing instead to emphasize the historical relationship between fiber art and technology. Vardanyan refers to her work as “crocheting with computers” or “macramé motherboards,” deliberately nodding to the role of weaving – a practice often seen as domestic, women’s work – in the early history of computing.
Before silicon processors, some early computers ran on magnetic core memory, made of copper wires precisely threaded to encode the 1s and 0s of binary code. So that NASA can build the Apollo guidance computerfor example, expert textile workers were responsible for meticulously weaving son in painstakingly complex patterns, which powered the spacecraft that landed the first man on the moon.
“The original processor was hand-woven by seamstresses, not by engineers or anyone else,” she said. “I feel like hand weaving, and even the meeting of fashion and technology… It’s come so full circle.”
Vardanyan started weaving pink Raspberry Pis to make handbags and corsets, then posted photos of herself work in progress on X.
“Of course, when macramé went viral, all the men were like, ‘That’s such a waste of Raspberry Pi’… or ‘What about the rain?’” she said. “And then I have to say, ‘Actually, it’s kept in an acrylic case.’ And then they say, “This is so performative, and the GPIO will waste power!” And I’m like, ‘Actually, I’m using a live wire, so it will move and fully function.’
@gazi.ai budding cyberdeck (allat to play pokemon yellow 🥀). thoughts ↓ cyberdecks were never about creating the “best” computer. they came out of Neuromancer (yes, I wrote my main essay about it) as personal, messy machines. it’s now a creator subculture in its own right, but the core is the same: control + identity + a silent resistance to changing technology. This one is a grass cyberdeck, wood + foam + exposed parts. something that seems a little alive, a little offbeat. built on a Raspberry Pi, nothing fancy. honestly a simple build, just wanted to show how easy it is to create something like this in your room (I post my PC a lot, but it’s just as cool). it’s not about competing with a GeForce RTX 4090 or being practical. rather, it’s about rejecting the “black box” (our sealed, untouchable everyday devices) and relying on radical appropriation, something you can open, understand, and truly call yours. more optimization soon 🙂 #cyberdeck #pokemonyellow #reelsinstagram #material
CC has also encountered condescending men on the Internet who balk at the idea of someone using a Raspberry Pi on something as frivolous as a seashell-shaped hand computer during a RAM shortage.
“This guy on Reddit said to me, ‘You built your first computer a month ago, calm down. “Mind you, I’ve been building PCs for years,” CC said. “So, long story short, he ends up apologizing and buying me the circuit board for my next cyberdeck.”
From CC’s mermaid hand computer to Vardanyan’s Raspberry Pi corset, these cyberdecks are a direct rejection of Silicon Valley culture, and not just in their blatant adoption of the color pink. They are intentionally impractical and inefficient, which seems sacrilegious in a culture so obsessed with optimization that unregulated Chinese peptide injections are trendy. It’s a radical act to embrace hacky, DIY tech experiences in order to forge a closer relationship with devices that seem so abstract despite their omnipresence.
“Ten years ago, I walked into a conference, there were three girls and people were literally like, ‘Were you hired for the marketing team?’ “, Vardanyan said. “I can’t even tell you how amazing it is to see so many girls all over my social media and Instagram getting into hardware, getting into software, and then educating. [each other]and it is certainly this energy that we lack at all levels of society.
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