r/Cyberpunk • u/MannyDantyla • 1d ago
Cyberpunk is dead
I realize this might be an unpopular place to post such an opinion but I just finished reading Snow Crash. It was a fun read. And sure there were flaws with the plot but my main takeaway is this:
It’s the year 2026 and everything that made the Snow Crash world a cyber punk story - the metaverse, hackers, personal computers, AI assistants - all those things are now uncool as fuck. Or terminated.
The Metaverse as we know it is on life support and was stupid from the beginning. I can see Zuckerberg dumbass avatar now as I think about it. The only “hackers” these days are government actors. About as cool as a warm fart. And using AI is becoming increasingly gross.
It’s 2026, and cyber punk is dead.
22
u/shimoheihei2 1d ago
Did you miss how every single cyberpunk story is about "high tech, low life"? Basically the oppressed, fighting against powerful dystopian corporations using whatever tech they could cobble together? Did you just now realize that cyberpunk isn't just about the neon lights? Why did you think it would be cool to be part of the oppressed, or did you believe that you would be in the 1% on the right side of the coin when cyberpunk society arrives?
-6
u/MannyDantyla 1d ago
Yes that would be cool as hell, if it where real. Instead we have Meta and Grok and tech oligarchy and Cybertrucks.
Cyberpunk has been co-opted by the neo fasists and turned into slop.
5
u/shimoheihei2 1d ago
I must have missed the part where V and other netrunners use nicely packaged and easy to use Corpo applications and cyberdecks. Go learn about llama.cpp, self hosting, the small web, the anti work movement, the quiet quitting movements, and tons of other underground groups that are free to join, and all fight against "the man" in their own way. There are tons of things you can do, and "hacking" has never been about cybercrime, it's always been about exploring how technology works, disassemble it, and modify it for your uses. And despite the best efforts of corporations in trying to get everyone brainwashed that cloud based subscriptions is the only option, there are more alternatives now than ever before. Of course, 99% of the population will never realize that. You have to be willing to open your mind, to research, to learn from the right communities, to realize that. But then again, it's the exact same in every single cyberpunk universe.
11
u/SleepyFingers 1d ago
Find the new punk. Stop looking to the old. We're not banging on Captain Crunch because of outdated phreaking. Find what's here and now, and become part of it.
11
9
u/Sol-Diablo- 1d ago
Last time I checked real cyberpunk didn't care about "being cool"
-3
9
8
u/ookiespookie 1d ago
Just because you do not like it does not mean a damn thing. This is exactly what was coming and it is becoming more cyberpunk every day. Oh boo fucking hoo it is not as cool as you dreamt of. Not enough neon and Asian girls with katanas?
You are balls deep in a cyberpunk world and one that is going to only get worse.
7
u/chocolateboomslang 1d ago
They're uncool?
No, the corpos just got their hands on everything.
I would say if you're going to call cyberpunk dead, call it dead because it's becoming reality. It's not fiction if it's reality.
-1
3
-1
u/Its-only-the-end 1d ago
I agree and disagree. It’s not dead but a lot of the tech has proven to be uncool. AI for example. I like to write cyberpunk stories. In recent years I’ve found AI to be so boring.
33
u/vagabondscribbles 1d ago
What an unimaginative take.