India, Oct. 23 -- When did tech get so boring? The 2000s had colourful Game Boys, Tamagotchis and phones shaped like burgers. Now, we're stuck with black-and-grey rectangles that are aggressively functional, with the looming threat of AI stealing our jobs and drinking our water.

Instagram girlies are rebelling by building gadgets with personality, no engineering degree needed. Their teacher: YouTube tutorials and Reddit's r/cyberdecks. Their motor: Raspberry Pi (a credit-card-sized single-board computer). Their creations: Tiny computers that fit into powder compacts, pink dollhouses and dangly keychains. The mini-machines are designed to do specific things and do them well, be it run retro games, store music, or display ebook pages.

Thi...