The Emergence of Geekdom

Last night, as I was attempting to slumber, my mind started down a path that had me pondering my personal journey into the world of technology. Accompanying  those loosely woven thoughts were the memories of how others slowly, then more readily, acknowledged their own inner geeks.

Now, I know many of you may have memories reaching much further into the past than I, but my first exposure to personal computers began in 1991. A friend of mine had AOL, which I thought was pretty awesome. I had another friend put together a computer for me, so that I could access AOL from home through my university account. Very quickly, I figured out that paying AOL by the hour was a huge rip-off. I started frequenting the computer labs on campus and came across IRC when checking my mail from my Unix shell account. At that point, I became a “Certified Internet Addict”. By 1992, I felt like a brave renegade on an untamed frontier. My fellow adventurers mainly consisted of other college students and people in the software and hardware industries. I hung out with computer science and math majors, playing RPGs late into the nights. My friends’ brilliant and quirky personalities kept me engaged and laughing.

There were several times when software and internet applications struck me as being essential. One instance is when I first saw Adobe Acrobat. I thought how great it would be if it became a standard format for easily sharing documents. I was shocked at how many people had never heard of Adobe Reader and how disinterested they were in the impact it could have on our lives.

In 1997, I stumbled into an awesome job with a start-up software company, even though my degree was in psychology. I finally accepted that I must have a good bit of geekiness inside, even though “geek” was still a bad word.

By this point, more “normal” people than ever had computers. Chat rooms became places to avoid, as online perverts and stalkers tainted the waters. The old-timers created new online places to meet. Their deep study of all things geek-related allowed them to retain their high-tech banter at outings, keeping passers-by confused by the plethora of acronyms being uttered.

Today, it seems that people are understanding and gravitating to new software and gadgets more quickly than ever. While not all humans will be full-fledged geeks, most can no longer avoid the bespectacled, cyber-hipster scratching to get their hands on the keyboard. I think this is healthy, overall. Adobe Reader is finally accepted as an easy way to read and share documents, Google is a verb, and Twitter made its mark almost overnight. I have mixed feelings about the speed at which people are adopting new applications. Going back to Twitter, for example, we see that it is already overrun with marketers and celebrities. That’s just another part of living on the harrowing edge of progress, I suppose.

Geeky types, such as myself, have made room for everyone, but not always without a grunt of disdain. However, we can still enjoy our niche where we create, test, and document gadgets and software for your inner geek. While many techology-related items are more understood and accepted by the general population, only a fun, socially-strained subset of us loves being bothered by the technical details. So, enjoy this time of geek power. Love your geeky neighbor and love your inner geek!

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