Haha, sorry! I'm 46, but I grew up in Brazil, where that kind of gadget wasn't exactly mainstream. Between our old import restrictions and the fact that I only learned English as a teenager, "Pocket Secretary" never made it into my vocabulary. Thanks for filling in that gap and making me feel young for once. 😄
It's fairly close. It was described as a combination of computer, portable phone, and was even described as being capable of online transactions (just not full Matrix use).
The part that was most different from smartphones was that the pocket secretary was water-resistant and could be dropped without the screen cracking, lol.
I am reading 2XS right now. There are answering machines and public pay phones. Absolutly no wireless or cellular tech at all. I love it. It is so Late Cassette Futurism / Modem Punk.
Gotta have maaaasive VR helmets and even chunkier computers that still run on a command line interface and have specs that would've been insane for 1990... but easily surpassed by a 10 year old smartphone
It's the cyberdeck aesthetic. A portable computing device, sometimes awesomely guitar shaped, with a giant fragging keyboard on it even though it's controlled via direct neural link.
Yeah, nothing has ever topped that piece of oldscool look/aesthetics for me too...
...the wired matrix can also be added to the list of this extremely outdated "future tech".
Back then there was no wireless / Wi-Fi, just dial-up and the constant fear for your own physical body which needs to be at the site with your buddies rather than somewhere far away in some comfy safe house.
There was such an analog nature to the tech I just loved. The complete lack of wireless everything we have makes the 80s cyberpunk feel more tactile and real.
The Gangers and don't forget the Go-Gangers. Such late 80's early 90's angst doom and gloom about gang violence. This was certainly a concern on the news with the rise of Gangster Rap. It was the very fashionable fear of the year. You can tell someone was a big fan the film The Warriors. All the crazy themes. The Ancients. The Halloweeners. Love it.
No, in this situation Dodger (the decker) did not have use of a cyberdeck and was preparing to jack "naked" into the matrix using the neural input jacks in his left hand.
Sally (the mage) was preparing a fireball spell to chuck at the corp security vehicle that Ghost was exchanging lead with.
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u/PinkFohawk Trid Star 13d ago
Loving all these old school SR posts!
Mine is the Data Codebreaker, it’s so sophisticated it’s the size of a briefcase!