"For me, the biggest appeal of steampunk is that it exalts the machine and disparages the mechanization of human creativity (the motto of the excellent and free SteamPunk Magazine is “Love the Machine, Hate the Factory”). It celebrates the elaborate inventions of the scientifically managed enterprise, but imagines those machines coming from individuals who are their own masters. Steampunk doesn’t rail against efficiency — but it never puts efficiency ahead of self-determination" by CORY DOCTOROW, from his essay in Make Magazine : http://www.make-digital.com/make/vol17/?pg=16#pg16