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Re: Are geeks becoming more respected?

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On Wed, 22 Mar 2017, Sylvia Else wrote:

> One of things I seem to spend a fair amount of time doing is helping 
> technically illiterate people with their modern technology. That is to say, 
> whereas in the past, my geekiness was of no use to most people, that's 
> changed.
>
> I'm too old for that to make much difference to me, but I wonder whether 
> younger geeks are getting more respect from their non-geek associates now.
>
There's a difference between being liked, and being exploited.

When I was in high school, I was way off at the edges.  But then every so 
often someone would discover I had some value to them, I could give them 
the answers to the test, or tell them how to hook up their video recorder 
to their tv set (back when it meant adding a jack and wiring it in), or 
whatever. They didnt' like me, they didn't change what they thought of me, 
it simply meant I had something they needed.

There's somewhat of an illusion now, because "technology" is something 
else.

I can remember when someone I knew would say how she didn't like 
technology, but the moment she got home she'd rush to her telephone 
answering machine, and she drove a car, and she was constantly on the 
phone.  She didn't think of them as technology.

Now "technology" is way wider.  It's not hardware or software down at the 
understanding level, it's consumer stuff everywhere.  I used to go to 
electronic stores when I was a kid, to buy parts, now the term is used to 
mean a place that sells consumer electronics.  Everyone gets to be part 
ofit, but that doesn't mean they know anything about it.  I'm sure there's 
a lot of "barefoot doctor" type stuff, people knowing the solution to a 
problem, but not understanding any of it.  If they fall off the map, they 
are lost.  "Everyone" codes now, but look deeper and it's about making a 
webpage, when html isn't even a coding language, but markup tags.

So it tends to broaden things, at the cost of dumbing it down.  Everyone 
wants to be cool, but they can't all be intelligentor understand 
technology.

So there's way more need for the qualified.

I would add that there's similarly a broadening of "geek", not that I'd 
use that word, or "hacker".  We were the castoffs over in the corner, 
doing interesting things but not fit for general society.  But now 
everyone wants to be a "geek". It doens't mean they are the social 
outcasts or have some special understanding of something esoteric, it 
means that anyone can drop some money for a Comicon ticket and dress up, 
and that defines their "geekness" rather than being deeply into science 
fiction or some other weird genre.

   Michael

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Thread

Are geeks becoming more respected? Sylvia Else <sylvia@not.at.this.address> - 2017-03-22 10:35 +1100
  Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-03-22 08:25 +0200
  Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> - 2017-03-22 10:40 +0000
  Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2017-03-22 13:01 -0400
    Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-03-22 16:58 -0300
      Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Adrian Caspersz <email@here.invalid> - 2017-03-22 20:10 +0000
        Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Dan Espen <despen@verizon.net> - 2017-03-22 17:30 -0400
          Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-03-23 01:54 -0300
      Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2017-03-22 19:17 -0400
      Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2017-03-23 09:55 +0000
        Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-03-23 12:20 +0200
          Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2017-03-23 10:23 +0000
            Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-03-23 14:57 +0200
          Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Rich <rich@example.invalid> - 2017-03-23 10:23 +0000
            Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-03-23 14:49 +0200
        Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2017-03-23 19:03 +0000
        Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-03-24 01:01 -0300
          Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2017-03-24 06:55 +0000
            Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Marko Rauhamaa <marko@pacujo.net> - 2017-03-24 09:46 +0200
              Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Mike Spencer <mds@bogus.nodomain.nowhere> - 2017-03-24 15:53 -0300
                Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2017-03-24 18:59 +0000
                Re: Are geeks becoming more respected? Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2017-03-24 16:00 -0400
                MIFI [was Re: Are geeks becoming more respected?] arnold@skeeve.com (Aharon Robbins) - 2017-03-25 18:37 +0000
              mobiles Ivan Shmakov <ivan@siamics.net> - 2017-04-05 06:24 +0000

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