Hi. Thanks for reading. Before we get into what cyberpunk is, I'd like to mention what cyberpunk is not. Cyberpunk is not a genre of science-fiction. It is not necessarily about artificial intelligence and it is absolutely not a critique of capitalism in se. More on that last point later.

Cyberpunk was originally considered a literary, and then more broadly artistic, subgenre of science-fiction surrounding the consequences of societal consumerism and of over-cybernization. As time passed, the real world grew more and more similar to the cyberpunk tropes, to the point it is now expected by many that the futuristic aspect of the genre will evaporate as it becomes simply the contemporary, every-day life. Despite the direction our future is taking, it is important to note that Cyberpunk is not necessarily a synonym of “futuristic”.

Before cyberpunk becomes the cultural norm, it first has to evolve from a genre to a subculture, which is a process already occurring right now. The existence of this archive is both a consequence of this reality, and a step in its direction. It is the manifestation of Cyberpunk.

”But Neuromancer and its two sequels are not about computers. They may pretend, at times, and often rather badly, to be about computers, but really they're about technology in some broader sense.

Personally, I suspect they're actually about Industrial Culture; about what we do with machines, what machines do with us, and how wholly unconscious (and usually unlegislated) this process has been, and will be. ”
- William Gibson