Happy Thursday!

I’m very excited about today’s interview. On my corner of the internet, I’ve noticed a major uptick in interest toward cyberdecks. I chatted with the woman who seemed to kick this trend off below. Her videos seemed to inspire a lot of other women to tinker with computers which is super cool. Subscribe to the Yapper tier to read the full interview.

Cyberdecks are having a moment, largely thanks to one crafty TikToker who wanted to share her new hobby with the world. 

What is a cyberdeck, you ask? It’s a portable, customizable computer that has seemingly endless potential. People use these devices to store shows, video games, music, books, writing, and more. All you really need to make one is a single-board computer, a screen, a portable power source, and a case to store it all. 

Cyberdecks were born from the cyberpunk literary genre, first appearing in the 1984 novel Neuromancer by William Gibson. Cyberpunk often explores dystopian futures ruled by megacorporations and highly-advanced technology, such as AI. It is fitting that this subculture would gain popularity in this era of skepticism toward Big Tech. As people begin to have a strained relationship with the internet, cyberdecks make it possible to take some control of your online experience by opting out of algorithms and building your own off-grid library of digital media.

Still, building your own computer seems like a daunting task for a novice. Annika Tan, better known as ubeboobey online, has helped demystify the process with step-by-step videos on TikTok. Tan, 22, has garnered millions of views for her mermaid-inspired cyberdeck. Her device, housed in a vintage pearlescent clutch and adorned with golden shell-like hardware, caught the eyes of over 1 million people on the platform. It looked like something old, akin to the whimsical tech of yore. Yet it also looked completely new, like a gadget out of one of these futuristic sci-fi books. 

Since showing off her first mermaid cyberdeck, Tan has quickly amassed a sizable audience who are eager to learn how to make their own mini computers. Her videos teaching people the basics of building a cyberdeck have blown up, with her two-part series amassing 10 million views. Other creators have started to share their own cyberdeck journeys, approaching the hobby as an opportunity to resist the rise of large-scale AI and create a more intentional, thoughtful digital experience. (Although, it’s worth noting that Tan and others are experimenting with offline local AI on their cyberdecks.)

Tan chatted with Yap Year about why she, a self-proclaimed tech noob, wanted to make a cyberdeck, why people are interested in these devices, and how these little computers can inspire a better digital future.