It has been few days, since I created the /r/cyberDeck subreddit. I did so, partly because I was inspired by the Building a cyberdeck article, but also because of few IRC discussions I participated, and because I think that there is more to this idea, than just nice cyberpunkish look and feel.
Deck or CyberDeck is this mobile computer first imagined by William Gibson in Neuromancer and later slightly extended and redefined by the Shadowrun as well as other (Cyberpunk 2020, GURPS Cyberpunk) role-play games, card games (Netrunner) and novels.
With his deck waiting, back in the loft, an Ono-Sendai Cyberspace 7. They’d left the place littered with the abstract white forms of the foam packing units, with crumpled plastic film and hundreds of tiny foam beads. The Ono-Sendai; next year’s most expensive Hosaka computer; a Sony monitor; a dozen disks of corporate-grade ice; a Braun coffeemaker. Armitage had only waited for Case’s approval of each piece.— GIBSON, William. Neuromancer. New York: Ace Books, 1984, 271 s. ISBN 0-441-56959-5.
(William Gibson’s Neuromancer: the graphic novel volume 1. New York, N.Y.: Epic Comics, 1989, 1 v.. ISBN 0871355744.)
He snugged the surgical steel jack into the socket at his temple and his fingers flew across the keyboard of his Fuchi cyberdeck, launching him into the Matrix. His vision shifted to that dazzling electronic world of analog space where cybernetic functions took on an almost palpable reality. He ran the electron paths of cyberspace up the satellite link and down again into the Seattle Regional Telecommunications Grid. Within seconds, he was well on his way to the rendezvous with his companions inside the Renraku arcology.
— CHARRETTE, Robert N. Never deal with a dragon. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Roc, 1990, 377 p. ISBN 0451450787.
(Various internet sources, mostly tumblr / pinterest.)
Although both in Neuromancer and Shadowrun novels (Never Deal with a Dragon for example) is deck equipped with neural interface, it is not uncommon that it is depicted with builtin keyboard.
(Vairous internet sources, mostly tumblr / pinterest.)
Sam slid back the cover panel and pulled out the telecom connector. With a quick switch of plugs, the Elf’s cyber-deck took the place of Castillano’s computer. He reached for the datacord that would connect his socket with the deck. He almost changed his mind, but found courage when he remembered the innocents in the arcology who would suffer if no one tried to help. He slipped the plug in, steeling himself against the expected pain.
It came, flashing through his brain faster than before and leaving a distant malaise in its wake. Sam focused his mind on the task at hand. Turning a blind eye to the gleaming spires and pulsing data paths that surrounded him in cyber-space, he charged forward to the massive Renraku construct. Using his company passwords, he opened a portal into the main database.
Glittering rows of stars lay in serried ranks and columns all around him. Each point of light was a datafile, its tint reflecting the filing category. Sam fed the cyberdeck the key words and executed the search function. His point of view shifted with dazzling speed along the rows. He paused briefly at each file suggested by the deck, discarding useless information as he searched.
In what seemed like only a few minutes, he found it. He copied the file and fled back to where he had entered the Matrix.
“There is a counteragent,” he announced to the circle of concerned faces as he pulled the data cord from his temple.
— CHARRETTE, Robert N. Never deal with a dragon. New York, N.Y., U.S.A.: Roc, 1990, 377 p. ISBN 0451450787.
The obvious inspiration for the whole cyberdeck thing was the 8bit home computers back in the era:
Imagine yourself passing computer store in 80’s and see in the shop windows those beautiful computers. Almost no one knows what to do with them, but they are cool, flashy, with efects never seen before. Talking heads in TV talk about Hackers and information superhighways, and everyone is curious and anything seems possible. It really makes your fantasy going.
It’s not that hard to imagine, that this where the deckers (cyberpunk hackers) and netrunners holding the deck, flying in 3D space and fighting computer programs, came from.
Today, still a lot of people is still attracted to decks because of their cool look. With the advent of small one-board computers like Raspberry PI, you can see attempts and discussions about building the decks:
Why the deck?
So, why would anyone want to use deck and not a notebook?
The idea of usefulne
