Internet Studies

According to Wikipedia:
Cyberpunk is a science fiction genre noted for its focus on “high tech and low life”. Its name was originally developed as a marketing term and coined by Bruce Bethke in his short story “Cyberpunk” written in 1980, so that his novel would have more appeal to readers…Cyberpunk plots often center on a conflict among hackers, artificial intelligences, and mega corporations. They tend to be set in a near-future Earth, rather than the far future settings or galactic vistas found in novels like Isaac Asimov’s Foundation or Frank Herbert’s Dune. The settings are usually post-industrial dystopias, but tend to be marked by extraordinary cultural ferment, and the use of technology in ways never anticipated by its creators…

According to CybrPunk:
Cyberpunk is a genre that could be attached to alternatively the Science Fiction side of fiction or the horror side of fiction. Additionally, many people consider cyberpunk culture to merely represent the culture that is attached to the Internet and computers. In essence, there is a difference between the cyberpunks of today and the cyberpunks of the future.

Cyberpunk, essentially, is a form of speculative fiction that deals with a high-technology future. Cyberpunk is almost never happy, and usually leaves the reader in a ‘life sucks’ mood. The reader should not want to enter the little world that you create. Cyberpunk is a warning as to what might happen in the future.

Required reading material for people who want to know more about cyberpunk is:

• Neuromancer, by William Gibson
• Count Zero, by William Gibson
• Snow Crash, by Neil Stephenson
• Mirrorshades, a cyberpunk anthology, edited by Bruce Sterling

According to CyberPunk Review:
Brief Definition of Cyberpunk: created by Illusivemind, here is a single sentence definition of cyberpunk:

Cyberpunk is about expressing (often dark) ideas about human nature, technology and their respective combination in the near future.

While some see cyberpunk to be a long-since dead relic of the 80s, I consider it to be alive and well. There are many aspects of “cyberpunk-ness” but these are what I consider the most important cyberpunk themes:

• Negative Impact of technology on humanity
• Fusion of man and machine
• Corporate control over society
• Story focuses on the underground
• Ubiquitous Access to Information
• Cyberpunk visuals and style