*Steamers in the brass-hat and goggles scene, they should probably read this. If steampunks actually did something useful about this literary situation, somehow, it would be a contribution to the planet's civilization.
Many have tried, many have failed, but, well, steampunk is harder to kill than most people realize
(...)
Names are useful things. The imagery conjured up by a name can spark a series of questions that are fruitful and productive for science fiction stories, whether or not the science in it is robust or accurate. Consider how the term “steampunk” itself is a riff on “cyberpunk,” a joke in Locus Magazine that took flight when it burst onto the Burning Man scene; suddenly whole swathes of Anglophiles and fans of antiques and the Victorian aesthetic had a name to describe and find their fandom. All we had to do was change half a word, and suddenly, the imaginary changed, from a near-future filled with glittering LEDs and plastic neon fashions to the 19th century filled with giant brass machines and a lot of brown clothes....
