lawitzke@eecae.UUCP (John Lawitzke) (02/10/88)
I've never been quite sure what cyberpunk is. Could someone e-mail me a brief description of what they think it is and possibly a short list of authors or works? -- j UUCP: ...ihnp4!msudoc!eecae!lawitzke "And it's just a box of rain..." ARPA: lawitzke@eecae.ee.msu.edu (35.8.8.151)
legare@ut-emx.UUCP (BoB teCh) (02/14/88)
another request for "what is cyberpunk". bloody hell. ok, i understand. it's actually a adman's phrase so admen could all agree on what they're talking about. nobody's really -sure- what this goofball thing is. it's an attitude [as best can be nailed down bo one lone uninformed tech] about technology, life, and rock and roll. cyberpunk is [kinda] a reaction to the Big Science of Hugo Gernsback. The access isn't restricted to the best and the brightest, like in the old sf. it's out on the street, palpable. ingrained into everyday life. like it is right now [quick, how many hi tech toys do you have? a walkman? little tv? maybe even this glass and plastic/metal toy you're typing on?] only more so, the level of tech increases, the sensawunder doesn't. sure, the marvels of science are still there, but they're muted. people take walkmans for granted, now. they didn't back when they first came out. in cyberpunk, tech is accessable. expensive? maybe. but the average joe on the street can get at it without filling out test forms. the action's all on the street, not out in vacuum. tech is part of our lives... faster, cleaner, smoother. with and edge. so the text comes out that way. tell me, do you remember when 300 baud was IT? the fastest? ok.. then 1200? 2400? nowdays they got 9600 for personal use and big companies use 196000 or so. fastfastfast. if it don't run fast enough MAKE it go faster. the power's in YOUR hands, cowboy. more memory... faster chips... faster, bigger drives... and more and more... gotta keep up with the info flow... the scroll's moving on us, gotta keep up. gofastgofastgofast. maybe you catch up to it... then it gets faster. moremoremore.. it's all cutting edge, but without the pretentions of Big Science, nor the solemn fingerwagging i-told-you-so of 60's and 70's sf. cyberpunk sez, "think for yourself, schmuck. i got better things to do." if you don't like the way this guy uses tech, sorry. it's today's tech hyped up, extrapolated beyond the point into the far limits. and there will indeed be people who wanna use stuff like that, don't you worry. track down a copy of "Mirrorshades: The cyberpunk anthology" edited by bruce sterling. read that puppy and go from there. BoB tecH