meaning of cyberpunk
1. cyberpunk /si:ber-puhnk/ Originally coined by SF writer Bruce Bethke and/or editor Gardner Dozois A subgenre of SF launched in 1982 by William Gibsons epoch-making novel "Neuromancer" though its roots go back through Vernor Vinges "True Names" to John Brunners 1975 novel "The Shockwave Rider". Gibsons near-total ignorance of computers and the present-day hacker culture enabled him to speculate about the role of computers and hackers in the future in ways hackers have since found both irritatingly na"ive and tremendously stimulating. Gibsons work was widely imitated, in particular by the short-lived but innovative "Max Headroom" TV series. See cyberspace, ice, jack in, go flatline. Since 1990 or so, popular culture has included a movement or fashion trend that calls itself "cyberpunk", associated especially with the rave/techno subculture. Hackers have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, self-described cyberpunks too often seem to be shallow trendoids in black leather who have substituted enthusiastic blathering about technology for actually learning and *doing* it. Attitude is no substitute for competence. On the other hand, at least cyberpunks are excited about the right things and properly respectful of hacking talent in those who have it. The general consensus is to tolerate them politely in hopes that theyll attract people who grow into being true hackers. [Jargon File] cyberrhea
2. a genre of fast-paced science fiction involving oppressive futuristic compterized societies
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