When I reach out to the self-proclaimed \u201copen source baddie\u201d CC<\/a> for an interview, I\u2019m pretty sure she\u2019s emailing me back from a pink mermaid purse.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m just having so much fun,\u201d she tells me about her seashell cyberdeck<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s a Tamagotchi. It\u2019s also an e-reader. It\u2019s networked to my vault and my servers, so it has access to all of my server data, which has all my PDFs, and books, and notes, and everything\u2026 It\u2019s also connected to my local AI setup at home.\u201d<\/p>\n CC has no background in software engineering or computer science, but she\u2019s gotten good enough at building unconventional cyberdecks \u2014 small DIY computers \u2014 that she documents the process on her blog Bimbo Tech<\/a> so that other women can follow her lead, even if they don\u2019t yet know what RAM is.<\/p>\n The idea of the cyberdeck originated in William Gibson\u2019s 1984 sci-fi novel \u201cNeuromancer,\u201d and when credit card-sized computers like the Raspberry Pi<\/a> came on the market in the 2010s, hardware enthusiasts began building and sharing their own cyberdecks in niche online communities. But over the last few months, these communities have exploded in popularity thanks to women on social media who are teaching each other to build artistic, hyper-feminine computers by documenting their building processes.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a running joke that there\u2019s this underlying misogyny in tech \u2014 because whenever they release a pro model, or an elite model\u2026 I\u2019m always like, let me guess, it\u2019s black or silver,\u201d CC said. \u201cIt\u2019s never going to come in pink.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The process of customizing and designing a cyberdeck has become an art form in itself. On Instagram and TikTok, you can find a cyberdeck made of wood and moss<\/a> that runs Game Boy Color games; a desert-inspired MP3 player<\/a> built inside a 3D-printed fossil; a Barbie dollhouse<\/a> that opens up to reveal a functional mini-computer; or a duck figurine<\/a> that can be used to record voice notes.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want Meta AI glasses. I want to pirate books in a tiny embellished shell,\u201d said the creator Sarahbelle Kim<\/a> on TikTok. \u201cNo one can surveil you there. You can get some basic parts at the thrift store or eBay and just customize it.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s obviously an aesthetic motivation to the rise of girly cyberdecks \u2014 why not<\/em> use a Hello Kitty purse to check your email? It\u2019s fun for the sake of fun. But the women building these over-the-top, bedazzled cyberdecks aren\u2019t in it for the glitter alone. This trend is reaching its peak at a time when people feel powerless against the omnipresent homogeneity of big tech.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s such a refreshing thing for people who were sold these devices that are like Apple\u2019s\u2026 If you try to jailbreak it, if you try to do anything to this phone that you paid $1,000 for, that you own, it\u2019s out of warranty,\u201d CC said. \u201cSo I just love seeing people taking the power back into their hands, taking the control back into their hands, which obviously always means creativity when people are given the means to go outside of the black box.\u201d<\/p>\n Maro Vardanyan doesn\u2019t work with hardware as a blockchain developer, but she\u2019s always enjoyed collecting and tinkering with old computer parts.<\/p>\n \u201cA few months ago, I just started as a hobby making art and jewelry pieces and purses with recycled or upcycled old computers I had,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I saw everyone doing cyberdecks, I was like, wait, why am I just doing recycled and upcycled ones when I can actually preserve the pieces on something that\u2019s wearable, that\u2019s movable?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Vardanyan has taken a different approach to building cyberdecks, opting instead to emphasize the historic relationship between fiber art and technology. Vardanyan refers to her work as \u201ccrocheting with computers\u201d or \u201cmacrame motherboards,\u201d deliberately nodding to the role of weaving \u2014 a practice often viewed as domestic, women\u2019s labor \u2014 in the history of early computing.<\/p>\n Before silicon processors, some early computers ran on magnetic-core memory, made up of copper wiring that was precisely threaded to encode the 1s and 0s of binary code. In order for NASA to build the Apollo Guidance Computer<\/a>, for example, expert women textile workers were tasked with meticulously weaving wires<\/a> in painstakingly complex patterns, which powered the spacecraft that landed the first man on the moon.<\/p>\n \u201cThe original processor was handwoven by seamstresses, not by engineers or anybody else,\u201d she said. \u201cI feel like the hand weaving, and even the fashion-meets-technology\u2026 It\u2019s so full circle.\u201d <\/p>\n Vardanyan started weaving pink Raspberry Pis to make purses and corsets, then posted photos of her works-in-progress<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, when the macrame went viral, all of the men are like, \u2018This is such a waste of the Raspberry Pi,\u2019 \u2026 or, \u2018what about the rain?\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cAnd then I have to be like, \u2018Actually, it\u2019s preserved in an acrylic shell.\u2019 And then they\u2019re like, \u2018This is so performative, and the GPIO is gonna lose energy!\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u2018Actually, I\u2019m using a conductive thread, so it actually will move and be fully functioning.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/crochet-corset-1.jpg?w=680\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/choker-cyberdeck.jpg?w=680\")