Cyberpunk, Steampunk, and Siliconpunk
(This ramble started in the middle of my previous post, but it seemed to be a separate subject.)
Although I don't hate Steam Punk as he does, Design Observer is getting at something when he says:The answer must be more interesting than adding wood veneers to your laptop or turning a mouse into a contraption of gears that looks more like a medieval torture device.
So I think that mouse is a piece of art. And I also see what he's saying about the past-looking-view. I'd like to see more of a future-looking-view.
I'd like to see the creativity of steam punk applied to modern electronics hacking and tinkering. All that built-it-yourself attitude with the personalized mojo instead of mass produced but soulless same... Those are the things I love about Steam Punk. But what if instead of polishing brass, some of that artistry was spent making circuit boards and soder look pretty.
(The rest of this is referring to the garment I'm talking about building.)
Whenever possible i want the circuit diagram of my hacks exposed, sewn into the sleeve, or onto the back. I want it to remind people of a punk rock leather coat with safety pins in an anarchy symbol. Except instead of safety pins, they'll be resistors and capacitors, maybe even small circuit boards. And the anarchy symbol will also be a circuit diagram and also literally the circuit.
I can't decide if I want it to be cyberpunk or not. Cyberpunk was always too distant and science fiction. To much fantasy, not enough home brew. Maybe I've got the wrong idea about cyberpunk, but I want the emphasis to be on how easy it is to do for yourself... right now... not how bleak the world is in this horrible war we're in with the uber-corporation who runs everything. Maybe I'll call it "silicon punk" someone can suggest something better. I want the ethic to be morel like when Woz made sure every apple II came with full technical specifications and less like now when apple has a patent for multi-touch-gestures on computers and computer-like devices. SD cards are so cheap, I should buy a couple dozen 256 megs. Include full documentation and project reports on everything I'm wearing so I can hand them out to people.
Although I don't hate Steam Punk as he does, Design Observer is getting at something when he says:The answer must be more interesting than adding wood veneers to your laptop or turning a mouse into a contraption of gears that looks more like a medieval torture device.
So I think that mouse is a piece of art. And I also see what he's saying about the past-looking-view. I'd like to see more of a future-looking-view.
I'd like to see the creativity of steam punk applied to modern electronics hacking and tinkering. All that built-it-yourself attitude with the personalized mojo instead of mass produced but soulless same... Those are the things I love about Steam Punk. But what if instead of polishing brass, some of that artistry was spent making circuit boards and soder look pretty.
(The rest of this is referring to the garment I'm talking about building.)
Whenever possible i want the circuit diagram of my hacks exposed, sewn into the sleeve, or onto the back. I want it to remind people of a punk rock leather coat with safety pins in an anarchy symbol. Except instead of safety pins, they'll be resistors and capacitors, maybe even small circuit boards. And the anarchy symbol will also be a circuit diagram and also literally the circuit.
I can't decide if I want it to be cyberpunk or not. Cyberpunk was always too distant and science fiction. To much fantasy, not enough home brew. Maybe I've got the wrong idea about cyberpunk, but I want the emphasis to be on how easy it is to do for yourself... right now... not how bleak the world is in this horrible war we're in with the uber-corporation who runs everything. Maybe I'll call it "silicon punk" someone can suggest something better. I want the ethic to be morel like when Woz made sure every apple II came with full technical specifications and less like now when apple has a patent for multi-touch-gestures on computers and computer-like devices. SD cards are so cheap, I should buy a couple dozen 256 megs. Include full documentation and project reports on everything I'm wearing so I can hand them out to people.