[vorpalhex]

One of the important concepts in cyberpunk, and this applies to the cyberdeck, is the customization of hardware and connectedness between the power user (the jockey) and their gear.

A good cyberdeck isn't clean or new. It's well used, customized, hand repaired.

Which means it has to be customizable and hand repairable. Which (in the common mind) means chunky. Cyberdecks are about a love affair with good tech (full size mechanical keyboard, a trackball, an outdated OS) than slick hardware.

When brand new slick cyberdecks show up in cyberpunk culture they aren't the ones that belong to hackers but signs of a corporate entity. The classic trope is the jockey who takes on a corporate job and discovers his employer is actually a corp because they provide some hot and brand new cyberdeck.

The hacker/jockey/protagonist subverts their culture because they have a personal connection to their tech. It is not disposable, it is loved.

[krainboltgreene]

> A good cyberdeck isn't clean or new. It's well used, customized, hand repaired.

This is not by choice, the subjects of the fiction are criminals who largely do not have legal means to get new equipment.

[zikzak]

That's why the scene in Johnny Mnemonic when they break into that computer store is so cool. He's got a wish list of gear he knows they will have and that he can use out of the box to do what he needs to do. It shows his competence.

[joshspankit]

See my other comment on the “are criminals” definition: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36930716