A Stephenson gargoyle is anyone that carries (esp as a wearable device) devices that have
Internet-access or other global area network(
s) capabilities that they can utilize where-ever they go, esp while traveling. The most common form are
smart phones, as of the date of this definition. Includes tablet computers, but not really laptops. Historically, this strictly referred to a computer that'
s worn, but this was more based on the limitations of miniaturization of computing hardware when the namesake of this term was devised. Worn networking information systems such as
smart watches and
smart glasses (esp with AR capabilities) are the most accurate examples in modern times.
Originated from a certain group of
people in the Neil Stephenson cyberpunk novel Snow Crash: "Gargoyles represent the embarrassing side of the Central Intelligence Corporation. Instead of using laptops, they wear their computers on their bodies,
broken up into separate modules that hang on the waist, on the back, on the headset. …they embody the worst stereotype of the CIC stringer. They draw all the attention. The payoff for this self-imposed ostracism is that you can be in the Metaverse all the time, and gather intelligence all the time." Where the 'Metaverse' was the in-story equivalent of an
Internet with VR requirements.
