Zenon, TikToker of the 21st Century
With one mermaid themed purse turned into pocket PC, TikTok user ‘@ubeboobey’ has sparked a new passion in the craft community. The volume in her hair, the color scheme, the entire aesthetic! The girly pops and the tech nerds snapped their necks to see a beautiful, young woman display her craftsmanship and creativity in one compact PC. ubeboobey’s focus on her cyberdeck’s aesthetics shines a new light on digital crafting and retro-futurism, inspiring audiences towards the next tech trend!
With the love of Y2K culture it was only a matter of time until Zenon (Girl of the 21st Century) got the praise she deserves. Proper nerds will cite Cyberpunk as the inspiration behind the term “cyberdecks”. However, I think the bright packaging and retro-fitting feels more like Zenon and Nebula using their Zap-Pads to plan their midnight escapades to the space-stay’s recycling center for more sustainable art supplies. With these hand-held tablets they were able to get online, but keep private communication networks, download files, play games, watch or read downloaded content. This is the experience the girly-pops are craving. We want to be online, but not too online. We want custom, but not the cost of conflict cobalt couture.
Now creatives everywhere are learning how to use a Raspberry Pi computer chip to create small computers, typically paired with a power bank, screen, keyboard, and mouse. All of these parts are small enough, affordable enough, and in high quantity for users to recycle parts and even thrift pieces. Today, AI data centers are driving the cost of consumer PC parts to astronomical highs, causing barriers to entry for many would-be builders. A Raspberry Pi chip costs roughly $60 but the accessories and power bank can put you north of $250. That’s before you do any of the fun crafting. Even if you raid the recycling bin like Zenon, the cost of parts will still add up. You always have to pay to play.
Have AI and Eat Your Pi Too
Hot girls and tech nerds on the internet are doing craft projects… So what? How does this stop the data center going up in my back yard or stop the systematic oppression of women and minorities? Especially right now, April 2026.
AI usage is split between users, as far as I have been exposed to. Some people view cyberdecks as the escape from the AI force feeding they experience in their daily lives. I particularly appreciated this comment on a recent TikTok where I pontificated on AI for cyberdecks. My response to this comment, “Raspberry Pi AI HAT+” was to highlight the hardware already being supplied to meet this demand. The field was already built, players have already come to play. I would like to play the game, or at least understand the rules.
I’ve see some hyper-nerds building Raspberry Pi systems specifically designed to house their own AI bot. This gives them the ability to engage with their AI creation without having to expose it to online servers and malicious risks, as well as avoid the Data Center conundrum all together. As Raspberry Pis are typically powered by a Linux operating system you won’t find CoPilot embedded into every app prompting you to follow its lead while it mines your data. This brings sustainability to the table. The AI enthusiast AND the AI conspiracy theorist can find common ground building an AI Raspberry Pi.
An unforeseen benefit of turning cyberdecks into girly pop accessories is the education of women in both hardware and software systems. Reddit users particularly love the rebellious nature and opportunity to learn that a cyberdeck build presents. But, the Harvard Business Review has documented the known gap in AI usage between men and women, threatening their career growth and leading to the majority of large language models being trained by male audiences. I blended these two together in my Vitamix brain and have decided that the opportunity to learn is the for the greater good. And here is every woman’s opportunity for total creative freedom while closing the AI knowledge gap! You choose the aesthetic, the application, the access. This is what Sam Altman denies you.
Perhaps our acts of resistance will enrage the Billionaire Boys Club, showing the human response to the dawn of the data center. We don’t want what you want. We, the Disney adults who lusted after Protozoa, will build the future we want. It feels like BOOM, BOOM, BOOM and makes our hearts go ZOOM, ZOOM.
Build Your Own Cyberdeck
My husband has mentioned Raspberry Pis countless times in the past two years and I have never paid attention or asked a single question. This is because he is a not a hot girl with beautiful hair and amazing accessories. SCROLL! When he talks it’s all soldering iron-this and thermal paste-that. SCROLL! He would try to explain the history and application of HAM radios in warfare (SCROLL!) before getting to the point - that it’s a Choose Your Own Adventure technology craft. Now that I’ve figured out what the hell he’s been talking about, wild horses can’t stop me.
I bought a vintage 90’s leather briefcase and I will be buying all the parts for a cyberdeck, building a false bottom, and fitting foam on the upper layers to create a James Bond style attaché case. I may need to drill some ventilation holes somewhere in the bottom or the sides, it depends on the final layout of pieces.
Here’s the thing - he will be so bummed if I just give him a finished cyberdeck. And what’s more, he won’t be able to resist unplugging everything to acclimate himself with its inner workings. So my plan is to give him a Build-a-Briefcase cyberdeck as a gift for our June anniversary, which gives me a couple months to acquire parts and craft the aesthetic (follow the journey on TikTok). I will place only what I need for functional spacing, finding the best spacing for the screen and keyboard. I’m hoping to find a Satellite Communicator plug-in too!
I have no idea what he will do with this cyberdeck, and honestly I don’t care. I will leave everything unplugged, probably some things in their boxes. His gift is the experience of building a cyberdeck without having to worry about making it fun, since the parts will be paid for and the case will be ready to go! I fully anticipate him teaching me the software pieces along the way, giddy like a kid in a STEM museum. He will be shocked I learned so much about the hardware, and I will promptly point him to this article.
You asked for a Raspberry Pi my love? As you wish!
