10. Many geeks are now parents
We can’t finish without mentioning one of the obvious facts. The computer revolution begun in the 70s and 80s, and since we’re mainly talking about computer geeks and technology enthusiasts in general, this means that most of their early breed are born around that period.
During the 90s and early 2000s they were either teenage kids or in their early 20s, tinkering with computers. And then they grew up, and increasingly they’re having families, and their kids are now being raised by geeks and growing up without even being aware of the whole “geeks are weirdos” meme in their minds.
This had to have an effect on the overall perception of geekdom in modern culture. In a nutshell, they built this new technotopia we are living in, and as a result transformed its culture into one of their own.
Photo by Ed Ivanushkin. Some rights reserved.
Guest
|
2PartsAnalog
I never thought that we would be cool. The world s changing!
Murray Snudge
Just because geeks are extremely useful does not make them cool – case not proved.
Karl
IT has such a conceit that they are THE tech and nerds. Sorry. There were tech nerds when punch cards were developed for looms. I am Technical Support for my company. The face that I am an Oracle DBA, programmer, and computer power user has nothing to do with the fact that my company makes high purity chemicals and that is what I am supporting. And it’s a whole lot easier to teach computers to a chemist than chemistry to a computer nerd.
Based on the history I know, the generation born in the late 80’s and 90’s is so isolated that, despite the “liberating” force of the internet, they are re-inventing everything around them. Comicon? There have been fan-run science fiction conventions since the ’40s, possibly earlier. Search for WorldCon. Cosplay? Those were hall costumes, part of the masquerade. Chemists and materials science nerds made the basic building blocks of that silicon you use as the foundation of your chips. Sorry, but you can’t claim the exclusive title of nerds.
SEAbeliever
The article isn’t saying that people are claiming to have started all of this. It is stating that the IT crowd has created the necessary spark to ignite the enormous popularity of the “tech and nerds”. It has all been said or done before, regardless of whether or not we are aware of it.