Too lazy to dig up the source, but I remember that Gibson said something to the effect of emulating the experience of him hanging around a group of hackers irl just listening in, not having background/context, but just allowing meaning to slowly come together as an outsider.

The worlds he built do not spoon feed anything to the observer. Even the characters often have to figure out what just happened after the fact; that’s how quickly technologies and people move there.

Second read through was even more rewarding than the first, if you have the time it will not disappoint.