ZDNet on the Essence of Geek 239
sebFlyte writes "ZDNet has a feature on The Essence of Geek, which looks at the rise of the geek (and the fact that everyone's turning into one), in the years post .com boom." From the article: "For a few years, an interest in computers and technology became inextricable linked with wealth and power -- geek became chic. Technology companies suddenly became the focus of the kind of attention that had been reserved for the music or fashion industries. In the UK TV makers even went so far as to create a hip series, Attachments, based around the antics of a tech start-up."
It takes more than that (Score:5, Insightful)
Um...no. Owning an iPod and knowing how to use it doesn't make you a geek. Knowing how to use your Windows smartphone doesn't make you a geek. Discussing mobile phone design doesn't make you a geek, because from tfa, I don't think they were talking about protocols or other engineering aspects. Even knowing how to synchronize your email with your smartphone doesn't make you a geek. It makes you a slave, but not a geek.
Knowing how to use technical things in the prescribed manner does not make you a geek, any more than knowing the exits on an airplane makes you a flight attendent. Knowing how to use technical things in ways they were never meant to be used makes you a geek. (and this is only one small definition "geekiness.")
Saying that "we're all geeks" is like saying "everyone is special, just like you."
Mox
And geek is not chic. (Score:5, Insightful)
This is just about toys. Pre-packaged, nearly idiot proof, toys.
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:4, Insightful)
And yes, I realize there are many people who are attracted to these things because they're suddenly "cool", but many stayed away from them in the past because of the stigma that was attached to them. That stigma is fast disappearing.
So while we don't get to feel all special because we're into the things that are now mainstream, I for one welcome it. I'm excited that I get to enjoy my hobbies with a wider range of people now and not be looked at funny when I mention them.
Thanks to a particular geek (Score:2)
Re:Thanks to a particular geek (Score:2)
Or maybe I just admire ZDNet's ability to publish pure tripe and get it to the front page of Slashdot.
Or maybe not.
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:2)
that hot elf babe you picked up on wow -- she's not a girl. i know she sent you some 'pics' of her at her 'porn site' but dude, it's just a guy fucking with your head
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:2)
Well, maybe it's just about the adoption of a new industry. 20 years ago, the video game, as well as the computer industry were at their infancy. Now that technology has progressed to the point where it's interesting and entertaining to adopt the new tech for non-tech people, it
mmmmm no it's not (Score:3, Interesting)
Kids are still punished for their desire to learn in school
Jocks are still lauded throughout society, not just high school
BUT as we age, those things that were derided early on (book l'arnin', etc) allow "us geeks" to rise up much farther than the fat-head jock wrestlers who had their moments of glory in high school.
Geeks peak later.
And for grins, I'm posting the lyrics to Friends Forever by the Old 97s because it's a fantastic nod to the outcasts in high
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And geek is not chic. (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
I think that's pretty much on the mark. I do think that, in general, knowing how to use something doesn't put you into a different mold... a more apt example would be: knowing how to drive doesn't make you a mechanic.
In any case, I would say an infatuation with technology or an obscure subject is what makes a geek. Technology (ie: computers) is becoming more common place.. so being a "Computer Geek" is becoming less
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
I agree with you on all the other points, but wasn't this the definition of a "hack" last time we had this pointless discussion?
To me "geek", at least in the sense related to technology, is one who not only uses technology, but also understands how it works and is capable of applying technical knowledge. One who loves programming computers is probably not usin
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
I am at the start of my career, working in a call center for an ISP (not making very good money), before that I have had many temp IT jobs. I have met so many people that are only interested in IT because they think it will make them rich, most of these people are really stupid/naive. I working with people that think that in ten years time they will be earning 75 grand a year (english pounds, ~ 130,000 do
Re:It takes more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It takes more than that (Score:5, Insightful)
Case in point, Bill Gates is a nerd. Linus Torvalds is a geek. IMHO.
Do me a favour! You are suggesting that Bill Gates, the guy who built a technology company that changed the entire planet and based on the success attained a personal fortune that is larger than the GDP of many countries is someone who is "fascinated by technology but doesnt know what to do with it!". I think not!
It is time to stop trying to define the terms nerd, geek, dork etc they mean nothing. I happen to be a software professional whose hobbies are mostly related to tech too. I have been called all of these things (and more
Re:It takes more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually, Microsoft's major customers are pretty much everyone who uses a computer which a) is why MS is so wealthy and b) tends to support the grandparent's point that Bill Gates might be thought to know at least a little about "what to do with technology".
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
The nerd is fad-driven, the geek a hobbyist, neither are a solid foundation on which to build a business.
Apple sells an upscale urban life-style, and is subject to the boom and bust cycles of that particular market niche. Microsoft, marketing middle-class value, tends to do well in good times and bad.
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
Re:It takes more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
Of course you lose weight if you eat much less!
It doesn't make it healthy or even meeting the dietary requirements for an average person.
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
The only part of that statement that's true is "Windows... has a large selection of ... proprietary software available for it."
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
Well, yeah. The only piece of software he ever actually wrote was an implementation of BASIC. His first big product, MS-DOS, was purchased outright from the company that developed it. Windows was just a gr
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
That's a pretty weak argument since you just showed that he "knows what to do with it".
Re:It takes more than that (Score:4, Insightful)
I disagree. I think that Bill Gates, along with Paul Allen and the other early Microsofites are all geeks. The difference is that now that they're multi-millionaires and billionaires, you don't see as much of the geeking as you used to.
If you read some of the histories of early Microsoft (or bios of Gates) I think you would be suprised. Bill dropped out of college because he was more interested in tinkering with early computers and writing software for them than getting his degree. The first company he formed with Paul Allen (Traf-o-data) was basically just the two of them building traffic monitoring computers and writing software for them, and then trying to sell them to cities for flow/congestion analysis.
Bill himself was responsible for writing some of the early BASIC interpreters on multiple platforms in the late 70's and early 80's. They wrote CPU emulators because they couldn't get their hands on prototypes of early computing platforms but needed to write software for them. And this was the stuff that was going on when MS only had 8-10 employees.
You might not like Bill Gates or Microsoft for what they are today, but it is absolutely ludicrous to pretend that he hasn't more than earned his chops as a geek.
Re:It takes more than that (Score:3, Interesting)
He was expelled from college because he stole computer time to develop the BASIC software that launched Microsoft.
I don't see that. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'd say the first person is just a toy-phile. It isn't the technology, it's the toy.
They don't care about the GPS technology. But when it came out in a toy, they bought them.
They can't tell the difference between xDSL and a cable modem. But they buy whatever claims to give them the fastest access.
The toy-ph
Re:It takes more than that (Score:3, Insightful)
He used computers as an end to a means, MONEY.
Linus is here for the code.
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
I replied, "It's tougher than it seems. It's subtle. Instinctual. I think geek implies hireability, whereas nerd doesn't necessarily mean your skills are 100 percent sellable."
-Douglas Coupland, "Microserfs"
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
Geeks have social skills, or the appearance of social skills (their social ineptitude can simply be so awesome that it gives the appearance of coolness.)
Nerds have no style, typically because they cannot be arsed to care.
The use of the term "Geek" to mean "social computer user" essentially began at MIT and/or UC Santa Cruz. Your mileage may vary.
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
It seems that the better working definitions of "geek" and "nerd" are third party definitions that cross a gender line:
A "geek" is someone that your GF doesn't want to sit at the same table with because the experience would ruin her lunch.
A "nerd" is someone that your GF doesn't want to sit at the same table with because the experience would ruin her appetite.
Those here who don't have a minimal working understanding of "GF" don't yet have a need to know what distinguishes a "geek" from a "nerd". For t
Re:It takes more than that (Score:2)
Everyone is a Geek. (Score:5, Interesting)
After all, how different is dressing up for a Star Trek Convention and a Football game? Not much...
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:3, Funny)
Spoken like a true Star Trek geek...
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:3, Funny)
how different is dressing up for a Star Trek Convention and a Football game?
You won't get home from the convention with hot-wing sauce smeared on your face and Bud spilled down your uniform.
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:5, Interesting)
Not everyone has passion, but more importantly the level of passion for traditional interests like baseball still has much more breadth and depth than baseball.
I agree the geek is "more" chic, especially in certain tech-conscious areas like the valley, but I think the article and this post perceive it to be a much more significant trend than is justified by the info provided.
And to look at it from another perspective, I think modern politics have reflected an increase in anti-intellectualism. This was most apparent in the success of the the 2004 Bush/Cheney campaign and an antagonism towards science the Intelligent Design issue seems to have espoused/surfaced. And while geeks might not value the "cultured" aspect of intellectualism, they still seem to be pro-intellectual.
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:2)
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:3, Interesting)
Anti-intellectualism is, to me, a belief that those who are academics or intellectually-inclined are bad. You'll find this sometimes, I hate to say it, in a lot of blue collar communities across the country. I come from one such community, though I didn't find the sentiment to be as strong as I have seen it elsewhere.
What I think you see from
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:2)
I guess to respond to the Bush-Cheney point (which I would certainly still support, though throwing it out there rather casually does come from being insulated in an environment of disdain for this administration). But to be more specific, I was referring to the campaigns success in creating an association between Kerry's intellectual nature and speaking style and general sentiments of distrust. They successfully took a president who made a point of avoiding information
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:2)
I bet it's about the exact same. I don't have any evidence either way but, then again, I'm betting you don't either.
Remember, of the 30,000 who GO to the game, it's usually a few dozen at most who dress up for it.
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:3, Funny)
Everyone. Everyone has that one area of passion in which they excel and have a knowledge of minutae. Be it Red Sox stats dating to 1903...
Shh! Do you want to be sued? [slashdot.org]
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:2)
Uh, putting on a little face paint is way different than dressing in full on starship officer uniform, along with starfleet phaser rifle, with working communicator badge and a special 24th (or whatever) century haircut to match. Not to mention learning a fake language and grunting at everyone to show just how much of a star trek GEEK you are! *grinz*
And hey, one of my worst memories as a kid was watchin
Re:It had to be said. (Score:2)
Re:Everyone is a Geek. (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm a geek now! (Score:5, Funny)
I am SO geek!!!!
Re:I'm a geek now! (Score:2)
Essence of Geek? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Essence of Geek? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Essence of Geek? (Score:4, Funny)
Sold in compressed air duster cans
Re:Essence of Geek? (Score:2)
Is that what geeks are calling their colons these days?
Attachments (Score:3, Informative)
Q: You know how a geek likes you?
A: He looks at your shoes.
Re:Attachments (Score:2)
Yes, I remember Attachments. Humourless, drug-sodden nonsense. Never met a "geek" who was a dope-arsed, trendy drip like the ones in that series. Those I know are quite confident (at least, amongst other geeks). They should've sent ESR into that office — he'd've soon sorted them out.
First Doctor Who and now this... the Jason King re-runs on ITV4 are the only thing worth watching these days.
I don't know about rockstar (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:I don't know about rockstar (Score:4, Interesting)
Before, in the tech boom, people thought it was cool to be a geek because if you were good with computers, you must make a lot of money, and people don't want to work, so they want to be married to someone who makes a lot.
Nowadays people are actually interested in what we geeks are as opposed to just our earning potential (however misinformed they may be about that).
Re:I don't know about rockstar (Score:2)
Computers piss people off. Why would making something that people see as a necessary evil want to fuck you?
If a rock band can attract 20,000 people or more to get together and have a good time and party, that is what people want to do. The reason they get laid is because if they can make 20,000+ people feel good for a couple hours, then they might be a good fuck too. Plus they are leaders and successful, which also
Re:I don't know about rockstar (Score:2)
Not always
Plus they are leaders
Being a rockstar does not make one a leader - not even close. They just happen to play some tunes that some people find enjoyable enough to come and see...entertainers yes, leaders MAYBE, but I would never think of an entertainer as a leader unless they did something extra - like well lead.
Re:I don't know about rockstar (Score:2)
OK. What is a leader? The best definition is "The foremost animal, such as a horse or dog, in a harnessed team."
Rock stars are on stage, up higher than everybody else, nobody at the place can speak louder than they can, everybody in the audience faces them, the people cheer them on, the people congregate to see them just as though they were seeing a politician or priest. If thats not what a leader is, I don
Book of Revelations? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm pretty sure this is one of the signs of the apocalypse
Re:Book of Revelations? (Score:2)
Yep... Jesus got it right. The geek shall inherit the earth. Now where are the cheese makers?
Anorak? (Score:3, Funny)
etymology (Score:2, Interesting)
The modern word surfaced in American slang in the early 20th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and continued to refer to various kinds of oddballs. The OED records this example from the 1916 Wells Fargo Messenger: "A new Wells agent struck our town the other week, and say you never saw a more enthusiastic geek!" By the 1950s Webster's dictionary recorded that the word referred to a carnival sideshow weirdo "whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"
Ancient Geek Mythology (Score:5, Insightful)
I remember when a geek was a guy who was extremely intelligent, read books, didn't dress well or had the latest fashions, never had a good haircut/hygiene, was not good at sports and never made out with girls.
If we are all indeed 'geeks' than the word geek doesn't mean anything. Or maybe we're just all nerds trying to be geeks?
Re:Ancient Geek Mythology (Score:3, Interesting)
Quick recipe (Score:5, Funny)
Serves: 1
Ingredients:
2 tbsp Mountain Dew: cooled to room temperature
12 fl oz generic beer
2 oz Cheetos: crushed to fine powder
5 oz Bacon strips: fried till crisp
0.5 lb butter: at room temperature
0.5 lbs onions: ground to fine consistency
2 nos. matured socks: preferably fermented for 3 days
Preparation:
Preparation Time: 5 minutes.
Heat butter in pan until gently melting. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer till delicious smell begins to whaffle through kitchen. Cool to room temperature, drain and apply in generous proportion.
Re:Quick recipe (Score:2)
Given the weight of most geeks, two tablespaces is just about right
The Geek is dead. Long live the Geek! (Score:5, Funny)
Geek = wealth? (Score:5, Interesting)
Most geeks I meet have negative net equity due to outrageous debt loads. Maybe it's just Chicago? It seems that every geek here thinks they can live like Sergei Brin.
I wonder if all the common people see are (leased) BMW's, (interest-only mortgaged) 5-bedroom homes and (almost maxed out) platinum cards when they see supergeeks?
Talk about keeping up with the Joneses.
Re:Geek = wealth? (Score:2)
Of course, neither you nor I are in a place to make an accurate statement about that because honestly, how are we to know how much they make? Not to mention that they may have other sources of income (geeks are more likely to invest their money than non-geeks).
Re:Geek = wealth? (Score:2)
I'm blown away by the foreclosure listings I receive from local banks. One local bank discloses a little more than it should regarding the current "owners" and I'd say 50% are in the IT field.
Geek-Cred (Score:4, Insightful)
Yeah, but some teen who wants to *fit-in* with the geeky kids, might buy these things thanking it helps. It's like when you were in high school, and saw that guy walking about with a tie dye Dead shirt on. He wasn't a hippy, and likly never found a Dead song that he liked, and never when to the show, but he did buy a tie dye shirt. Very trendy.
Now, I've got a cs degree, and I know I geek my friends out with blab that they don't care about, but I don't own an iPod because of the DRM issues. Some people might say that someone who won't buy an iPod because of the DRM issues is a bigger geek than someone who owns them. However, the article is making a point. It does't matter if these people have any geek-cred. It's obvious that they want that geek-cred, just like the dude with the tie dye shirt.
why, WHY us? (Score:2, Funny)
then came an article claiming that geekiness is actually "kewl", and people were actually yearning to be one. That marked the end of geekdom. Now every other person using ipod and knowing how to download firefox considers himself/herself a geek, making the existence of the actual geeks as minority. Maybe, the geeks would start yearning to be just normal, and t
Using technology vs. controlling it (Score:5, Insightful)
Geek's don't just use technology, they understand how it is put together and desire to change or "hack" it for their own purposes. A geek molds technology to suit him, a regular schmoe makes do with what has been handed his way by 3com, intel, microsoft, etc, etc.
That is the difference.
Re:Using technology vs. controlling it (Score:2)
Glorious Geek Revolution (Score:5, Interesting)
A lot of the rags to riches stories involves geeks. South Park's creators, Family Guy's creator, Matt Groenig, Woz and Steve Jobs.
We live better lives than our geek forefathers. A smart, industrious geek these days often earns a better living and lifestyle than our jock counterpart.
Society is getting geekier. Take cops shows. They used to be buddy films, the cool guys with street smarts driving cool cars in chase scenes. Now the top cop show is CSI. Geeks with badges, walking around with black lights, analyzing semen. NCIS, Law and Order, The West Wing, Adult Swim... culture has definately taken a turn for the geekier end of the spectrum.
Nerd girls are doing well as well. I read somewhere that SNL producers were worried about Tina Fey in glasses, but it turns out it totally works, and she has tremendous appeal and talent.
Of course, as we start having kids and they grow up, maybe they'll be jocks, and maybe they'll be teased unmercifully by the geeks.
Worst. Perfume. EVAR. (Score:2)
What's That Smell? (Score:2)
Not what a geek is... (Score:4, Funny)
Extra points for writing a new compression algorithm to store more songs on the PDA. Bonus if you have neon lights under your car that are synchronised to the music.
It's the knowledge, stupid! (Score:3, Insightful)
Group A: people who know only what they need to know to get along. This is actually a fairly small group; most people have a beyond-necessary level of interest/knowledge regarding something.
Group B: people who have some (or quite a bit of) in-depth knowledge of one or two areas because they're interested, and are perfectly content with a "necessity" level of knowledge in everything else. This is most everyone.
Group C: people who are interested in having in-depth knowledge for its own sake, and will always (given the opportunity) choose to know more about any given subject.
"Geeks," as far as I can tell, are pretty much a subset of Group B, where the one or two areas of interest are math-, science-, or computer-related, and the level of knowledge is above some ill-defined, but relatively high, point. Linus is a geek. Da Vinci was not.
Who is Eric Reynolds? (Score:2, Interesting)
Um, what? Sloppy research or just a typo? These mainstream "Look how geek everyone is becoming! Even your has an iPod and is therefore a geek." articles really irritate me.
Re:Who is Eric Reynolds? (Score:2)
Re:Who is Eric Reynolds? (Score:2)
I'd say it's pretty much on par with the content.
Off the ground? (Score:2)
Is that true? Somehow i cant see Einstein doing that. I guess if he was REALLY cheap, but most people that i know who smoke would never pick butts off the ground, even if they were broke. (they'd just bum one but thats not really the point)
Anyways thats the first i ever heard of this. Anyone can confirm this very interesing anecdote?
Well i just decided to google for it and it
Re:Off the ground? (Score:2)
How to be a Geek (Score:2, Interesting)
Not just UK TV... (Score:2)
Re:Not just UK TV... (Score:2)
The Essence of Geekness (Score:2)
What that essence really is (Score:2, Funny)
If "geek is in"... (Score:3, Funny)
*watches iron-clad karma melt into hot slag*
Re:"Everyone's turning into one" (Score:4, Insightful)
I know people that just because they can us Windows think they are a "Geek". I hate the term geek I like the term hacker. If you can not create technology then you are not a hacker. If you can code, solder, or wire wrap then you are a hacker. If you can IM you are not. If you can write an IM then you are.
It is about creation not use.
Re:"Everyone's turning into one" (Score:2)
I spent the better part of an hour trying to explain to a guy why his telescope wouldn't slew to Jupiter. He was mad because "all you had to do was push this button here..
Re:"Everyone's turning into one" (Score:2)
You kind of proved my point. They didn' create anything they bought it and put it together. Before you create anything you must understand it.
"Does the fact that I grind my
Re:What makes a geek (Score:3, Funny)
Nononononononononono. News for nerds. Not news for geeks.
The true geeks are all somewhere else, having much more fun.
Re:What makes a geek (Score:5, Funny)
Re:The author must not be a geek (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The author must not be a geek (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Windows isn't geek (Score:3, Insightful)
I'm a software tech support geek. The people I deal with use Windows. Unless I used it, I wouldn't be able to help them very much. Instead of refusing to use it, I've turned myself into a specialist in Windows internals, so I can talk my customers through undoing the damage Windows has done to itself without either uninstalling/reinstalling the software or reinstalling Windows.
Geeks do use Windows, when their job needs it, or they need to use a program that only exists for Wind
Re:I loathe the contrived hipness of IBM (Score:2)
On an almost totally different subject (well, still ads, but a totally different industry), has anyone seen that damn Coke commercial with the penguins and the polar bears? Talk about idio-fucking-otic ads, everything is wrong with that one.
Re:The association... I don't like IT.. so bite me (Score:2, Insightful)