"antiquate-it-yourself faux retro-futurism" ain't too shabby, though it does tongue trippingly from the falls.

I think the category applied to the post, Retro-Futurism, fits pretty well, although it may be a bit broad. Electro-anachronism?

"I just think steampunk is a neat confluence of trends, taking a bit of post-goth fashion, mixing it with a little DIY juice from the modding scene, and coming up with something that, by being inherently not of our timeline, should be timeless."

I agree completely. Actually, it was one of these "steampunk" gadgets that led me to this site and I really liked what else I saw, so I stuck around. I'd heard of the genre before and I've always been a fan of the whole Jules Verne representation of technology, so I pretty much figure it's anything in that vein. I'm not one to nit pick on stupid crap though.

I believe that just as "Cyberpunk" encompasses a world-concept that includes things that are not cybernetic, and "space-age" includes items not ever used in space, "Steampunk" includes non-steam powered items.

However, if you feel you need an alternate term, "Neo-Victorian" is a partially overlapping concept.

Methinks you're taking the criticism a little too personally. There's always gonna be the ne'er do well naysayers. Or is the criticism beyond that sort of threshold? Or is it like how a favorite band of yours starts to reach crowds you don't necessarily care for and you're not sure whether you should like the band still or find a new one to adore?

FWIW, I like electro-anachronism.

But I also like saying, "Ahhh, yes, what do we have here? Another 19th Century Victorian System unrealised then, but functioning now, eh, Edward?" wait a beat and then add "Tripendicular! Like does that totally have sprockets and gears... tubular!" if the object deserves scorn. And by* scorn, I mean, needs to be improved before public display.

*Since I used the "and by" turn of phrasing years ago and it's de rigeur for any hipster hack nowadays, I might as well show those young punks, that we 30something grandpas were using it a decade and a half ago. Can't these kids reach back more than that? Sheesh. Kids these days. Get off my lawn! Find your own language.

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I'd go with retro-modernism, although retro-futurism is good too, depending on how you look at it. It's a modern day revisiting of a past envisioning of what the modern (or future) world was supposed to look like.

It's a fad. Like Britney Spears, it, too, will one day just be kind of sad and unattractive and pointless. I honostly don't think it's catching on. The illusion that it's catching on is probably just that you're looking for it now. If you see "steampunk" designs showing up in Walmart, then it's catching on.

I'm not knocking the style. It's cool. If I were in the mood to spend more money to turn my toaster into a really artistic looking toaster, I'd probably go with this style myself, but it's still just an artisitic fad.

"steampunk" makes a whole lot more sense than "methylamphetamine"

"Gaslight" ?

"Post-Dickensian" ?

"Archeo-Industrial" ?

I have always hated the term steampunk, both because it is unfitting and also just because of the sound of it.

I think a better term should accurately describe the devices being constructed, have a decent etymology, and sound cooler than the present term.

Something like prototechnology or chronotype or chronofact, or something like that.

I think the real problem with the moniker "steampunk" is that you are tying an entire visual style to a rather narrow handful of literary sources. It would be almost like labeling all post-apocalyptic works as being "Mad Max." Personally, I would think that what is needed is a broader term, of which steampunk would be a subcategory. I lean towards Baroque Futurism myself. That, or just go all the way back to the original source, and just call it all Vernesian Design.

I am SO happy to see that someone has finally mention that steampunk is different from clockpunk, gaslight and Victorian fantasy. Someone should tell Cory.

People who don't like the term should have made their objections known back in the mid-1980s, when it first came into use. Their grumblings are not going to eradicate a word that's been around for twenty years.

A great steampunk story is '72 Letters' by Ted Chiang:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/279919/72-Letters-by-Ted-Chiang

re: folding plywood

1) build a steambox (refer to a good boatbuilding manual) to soften the plywood, then clamp around an appropriate form and let dry. good for simple, single-axis curves.

2) acquire a heavy-duty hydraulic press. build a mold for complex curves (concrete is a good cheap mold material). hand-lay thin veneers of wood, alterating the grain direction, with layers of epoxy or polyester resin, until the desired thickness is achieved. crank down the press, cook until done.

these are super simplified directions, but the point is, it's not THAT difficult. g'luck.

"Folding" plywood is relatively straightforward. Here's two options:

1. Use a bendable plywood (like wigglewood or an equivalent) http://www.interiorproducts.com and then laminate (glue) a layer of veneer over the surface to lock it into place. You can buy peel and stick veneers for a variety of common woods.

2. Laminate from scratch around a form. http://www.vacuum-press.com/works.html

Plywood is a laminated product, so the second option is basically making your own plywood.

Of course, you could try steambending... but that's tough and some folks might object to the reference.

I get blank stares when I refer to steampunk. Instead, I just call it "Brazil" inspired.

-t

I do like words, they're bendy.

I love how everyone seems to want to further subdivide an already divided genre.

Let's pidgeon-hole everything we possibly can!

At the root, it's all Sci-Fi; steampunk, clockpunk, whatever you want to call it.

To note:

Steampunk, as a descriptive term, was never meant to imply something ran on steam, or had clockwork innards. It is merely to describe a person/place/thing/story that was supposed to have come from that 'alternative timeline' victorian-steam era. That's it.

Honestly people, do 'steampunk' persons wear steam powered, clockwork clothing? Bah!

I am new to boingboing and I love it. I usually pass on gadgets, but the steampunk area is quite cool. I am reminded of the ill-functioning retro machines in Terry Gilliam's "Brazil."

People get way too worked up about trends. Especially people who can be described, in one way or another, as "hipsters."

Once an idea is used enough times, it is considered a "trend." Steampunk, at least in this little corner of the internet, can be considered as such.

And once a trend is identified, oh my, how hipsters and the like flip out and start getting uppity about how to define it and whether or not such-and-such qualifies and why it exists and whether or not it is cliche and whether or not they like it...

Sheesh. Just sit back and let trends be trends. It's just how information and memes work, and just because something is a trend does not mean it is already "cliche," "passe" or somehow unworthy of my attention.

Some trends are trends for a reason. Like kissing! Oh, how cliche! But I wouldn't pass it up...

Yes, steampunk is like kissing.

I hope this seemed coherent.

"Post-Dickensian" ? YES! I love Dickens (my favorite author).

I am a painter and a metalsmith-- mix that with my love for all things Victorian and what do you get?-- my delving into Steampunk creation.

My girlfriend is a metalsmith and loves all things Victorian also. We adore Steampunk no matter what the coined term-- we all know what it is now.

I am making her a Steampunk raygun for Christmas; it is handmade from brass, copper, and glass. It is sure to assist in the overthrow of the Outer Rim (Paris)and I know it will make my lovely, nerdy girl whelp with glee.

How about calling it "Neo-Britannia". Whatever-- it's still Steampunk minus the steam vapors and all)

Regards,
Matty D

dfntly jst mnr fd, t jst lks pplr n th ch chmbr tht s bng bng nd ts smll grp f frnds.

I've always liked the term "steampunk", but whenever I say it out loud, I feel like a jackass.
MR

How about 'Nemonic Style' ref. to Captain Nemo and slight word play to Gibson's Johnny Mnemonic as a futuristic sci-fi ref.
It works on so many levels. okay, just the two levels.

#7, methinks you might want to educate thineself. (Sorry, I'll stop that.)

There are many methylated forms of amphetamine. My guess is he was referring to 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, AKA MDMA or ecstasy.

So no, steampunk does not make more sense than methylamphetamine.

Robert Conrad is the true godfather figurehead of all that is punk-steam. This revisioning of the genre amuses me.

My apologies, the honor goes to Ross Martin who played Artemus Gordon. Still, mine is an amused laugh, ha-hah!

The only time a genre, art movement, or musical style can be definitively nailed down is when the artists and creators who worked in that style have moved on, and the period ends.

Trying to define the boarders of a genre that is still evolving and fluid is a pointless exercise, traditionally taken up by non-contributing "critics."

Those working in a movement shouldn't get bogged down with trying to name what they do. Musicians who fuss and fume over whether their "nouveau-techno-trance" is truly more "art house-grunge-core," should really be spending their time creating and trying new things.

If you don't, your book, or your song, or your steam powered automaton, will become mere formula.

DrHaggis
www.slashboing.ca

I always thought "steampunk" was a blend of two ideas, the steam part referring to that period when things were driven by steam.

I personally like the term "Edisonade", which was the original wording for a Tom-Swift style adventure where electricity was thought to be a wonderful new science that could do anything.

Maybe I'm just cynical--OK, there's really no "maybe" about it--but whenever I see someone pushing a neologism, whether for a genre or a generation, when there seems to be no real need for it, I always suspect that they've got the trademark application clutched in one trembling hand and have already sewn up the various domain names. We may have gotten tired of steampunk, but most of the alternatives cited here are way clunkier; I'm no fan of retro-anything, myself.

I like electro-anachronism as a term for the gadgets, but I think steampunk does a better job describing the cultural aspects (costume, language, literature).

But I've been surprised at how quickly some steampunkers are to dismiss something as "not steampunk." 'Tis a pity we can't find a more encompassing term.

Personally, I like all kinds of beautiful anachronisms, from modern cyanotypes to rotary-dial modems. Steampunk is just one flavor.

Anachronism:
1. Something located at a time when it could not have existed or occurred.
2. An artifact that belongs to another time.
3. A person who seems to be displaced in time; who belongs to another age.

Definition from WordNet® 2.1, © 2005 Princeton University, via dictionary.com.

Although I too like the term electro-anachronism in reference to technology in the genre, I agree that "steampunk" is more encompassing of the cultural aspects, which must accompany any meme as it makes its way into different mediums of expression, and it's already here to stay. Take a look at the band Rasputina (http://www.rasputina.com/) if you don’t think steampunk has already cropped up its rusty, riveted head in music (though they have yet to call themselves that, and shouldn’t, as BAZILISK pointed out.)

I must take exception to two points made by THECYNIC:

1) Once a “trend” hits walmart, it is truly dead, having been copied into oblivion beyond any recognition of vitality and therefore become nothing but fodder to be shlucked to the masses. High-end fashion designers make their huge profit margins based on this concept as they try to be the first identify or add steam (yes steam) to growing trends. Everything you call a style now was once a trend when it was first introduced, or even re-introduced, as the case may be.

2) I know what you were trying to say, but when was Britney Spears ever not pointless?

Keep up the great content, guys. I’m gonna go fold some plywood now…

Nobody owns the word "steampunk," though we do know who invented it: K. W. Jeter. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, that was twenty-odd years ago, when it wasn't yet hopelessly lame to use "punk" as a suffix when describing some literary movement. Jeter came up with it as a way to characterize the stuff he, Tim Powers, and James Blaylock were writing. (James Blaylock. K. W. Jeter. Tim Powers.)

Some other sources: Bill Gibson and Bruce Sterling's The Difference Engine. Various works by Neal Stephenson. The Wild, Wild West. China Miéville and Phillip Pullman, kindasortamaybe. Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Miyazaki's version of Howl's Moving Castle. A whole bunch of other movies.

Outside of cinema, the the single largest source of visual steampunk's genetic material is Myst.

Why does steampunk exist? Because it's cool. Because it's an alternative to the modernism of Frank R. Paul, the Eameses, Chesley Bonestell, Richard Powers, and Henry Moore. Because it's a way to say that the simplifying impulses of 20th C. extrapolation and social planning didn't make the world's complexities go away.

The word itself is imprecisely defined, so it's not going to go away either. Nobody's going to multiply terms to describe steampunk when they've never been completely sure what it meant in the first place.

L.M. Lloyd's "Vernesian Design" is close to the 'Vernean' I was thinking of. "Tech equipment (or design) as Jules Verne would have envisioned it" seems like a good description of the hardware that steampunk inspires.

Then again, "cool" or just 'neat' works for the keyboard and display at the start.

Vnend

I think using the term "Jules Verne" works pretty well, such as "that medicine cabinet is very Jules Verne". It retains the otherworldly alternate timeline theme as well as keep it to two syllables, which is important to compete against replacing another word or phrase.

Retro Futurism if you must. I saw a traveling Smithsonian exhibit in the mid-1908s called "Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past visions of the American future" that contained things like 1950s vintage nuclear powered concept cars (1/2 scale non-functioning models of course). They were also running a well known (I think GE produced) Kitchen of the Future film from the 50s as well. The matte painting and fx model from Blade Runner were my favorite displays.

Retro-futurism would cover the whole category, but I think steampunk is perfect for gadget design that recalls the steam-powered Victorian inspired age.

It does grate on me to hear people misuse terms like these. The local news referred to a hard drive fault as a problem in cyberspace. Just because we can't stop the ill-informed from trying to sound cool doesn't mean the words should go away. It means we should take the time to correct them.

Steampunk = yawn.

OK, "Steampunk" (the word) is the bastardised offspring of two innocent words - and sounds like something muttered by way of an insult by the AntiHero in some off-beat movie.

It's funny, but 15 years ago it was known (briefly) as "Victorian Retro-style". 20 years ago it was "memoraphilia". 30 years ago it was "£$%^&* old-fashioned stuff". 40 years ago it was "that old junk".

And just 5 years ago it was simply "retro".

I tend to call it "retro-future"style.

Whatever ..... I like it.

I don't care what it's called (provided that I can google for the term). And now I'm going to go and plan out some brass and copper case mods for one of my computers. ;)

*hugs*

How about, "Excess Babbage"?

ZING!,
-gabe

Edisonade? Bah! Edison was a shithead.

Teslian!

Overcoming what would otherwise be anachronisms with inventively creative contemporary capabilities.

I just watched Wild Wild West - what an awful, awful movie with such wonderful effects (well, except the sawblades/cornfield/collars bit). I'd say it's probably the most accessible (i.e. available at Wal-Mart), if not particularly enjoyable, example of steampunk on film. More so than The Prestige (from the Wikipedia list), I'd say. IMO steampunk carries something of plausibility in retrospect - nobody thought of it at the time, but there's nothing that says they couldn't have.

A bit late to this but how about Byran Talbot's
The Adventures of Luther Arkwright ?

I like the comics in the genre.

"Okay, what's a "Gaslamp Fantasy?"

"Influences include Jules Verne and H. Rider Haggard. The genre is popularly called "steampunk." Expect big, clanking Victorian-style tech, old-fashioned clothes, Frankenstein monsters and airships. Lots and lots of airships. ..."

http://www.girlgeniusonline.com/info/faq.php#0011

The style is richly and perfectly captured in Disney's film of Verne's classic novel, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea"--and in several other films that feature the doings of its anti-protagonist, Captain Nemo. I propose that a nifty & descriptive term to replace Steampunk would be "Captain Nemo Style".
Please don't be afraid of applying a proper name to a style of design--after all, we call various things and works of architecture "Wrightian" or "Georgian" or "Eastlake", and so on, and they're all genuine and accepted ways of speaking about a design style or look.
Respectfully submitted,
--Seth Joseph Weine

Here's my end-of-the-year retrospective on the term "steampunk!" Maybe I can use enough recursive, "meta-", worn cliches to create an infinitely regressing nostalgia time warp. ;) "Steampunk" is an awful term on several counts, but its also meme that has an organic quality and coming up with alternative terms is bad karma. Boingboing readers might as well propose breeding platapii to grow propellers. An ironic reference like "Faux handcrafted" is too depressing and cynical. "Jules Verne style" brings to mind Disney movies rather than the author himself. Actually analyzing any style of escapist fantasy is pretty depressing. I'm going to stop myself right now...

@#44 "The style is richly and perfectly captured in Disney's film of Verne's classic novel, '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea'"

And also in the "Thief" video game series. My favorite.

One of the attractions to steampunk is that in order for something to look "modern", it has to be sleeker and less detailed than its predecessors. If you take that trend far enough, everything becomes a featureless box or sphere.

Take a look at the featureless black brick that is the iPhone. There is no artistry to its surfaces, they're just black and shiny. TVs are becoming that way with the onward march of flat panel screens with minimalist borders.

Even architecture; largely for cost reasons, I'm sure, the simple decorative nature of window borders (sills, sometimes arches) found on the exterior of brick factory buildings from the early 1900s has disappeared in favor of corrugated steel boxes.

Steampunk puts some flourish from the handmade days back into technology.

annoying

@Matty D (#20):

Your girlfriend will "whelp with glee"??!!

Get video of that.

the only thing i hate more than the term "steampunk" is the use of words like "methinks" and "naysayers".

then again, I get pissed [sic] when I see a 'u' in a word where it doesn't beloung.

I hate when retro-future gets labled steampunk. For instance, the film Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow is retro-future, based on the 1939 NY World's Fair aesthetic--how they envisioned the future back then, even though it takes place in 1939. Steampunk harkens back to the Victorian era in style only. Jules Verne didn't imagine computers made of brass, or did he?

I've always liked steam-punk because it requires a degree of handmade, individual craftsmanship that is totally at odds with modern mass produced consumer goods.
Back in the day technology was simple, reliable, effective and easily repaired if needs be. All that of course is gone in a disposable culture, so objects have less value and permanence.

So I love Steampunk, partially for it's wonderfully anachronistic appearence, but largely because it makes technology accessible in a way that most science fiction does not allow for. A Steampunk style computer might be practically obsolete in a couple years, but if my ancient Apple Mac IIc was brass and wood, I might still use it for simple tasks rather than store it in a box because it's too old to use but too young to sell yet.