Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
1–10 of 34 posts
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#2Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now.
I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different.
I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new slang.
As for Best Buy suing everyone for using the words Geek or Squad (and every-so-graciously allowing high schoolers to continue calling their teams 'geek squads' (that's sarcasm)) it's obviously ridiculous. I understand protecting your brand, but when you name your brand so generically, you automatically lose a bit of it. Just deal with it.
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#3Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…
I'm holding out for when the "No True Geek" fallacy becomes a thing.
(If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_True_Scotsman)
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#4Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…
I'm holding out for when the "No True Geek" fallacy becomes a thing. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_True_Scotsman )
Nerd chic is as dead as punk in 1990. Most social movements are commoditized by way of cultural signifiers, and when the cultural impact of those signifiers goes away, so does the soul of the movement.
"Nerd" used to be about the intellectualism of it, the replacement of certain social interactions with an indie academic mindset. Now, "Nerd" is a marketing demographic, replete with physical identifiers: black plastic frames, object fetishism, a certain "look."
P.S. Punk is still alive in Minneapolis and SoCal. It's just not popular, so the people who actually give a shit are active. However, the rejection of populism is cool, and "cool" attracts the populace.
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#5Checked out the offending work. New Egg's Geek On logo bares absolutely zero resemblance to Best Buy's Geek Squad logo. Best Buy doesn't own everything "geek" and orange. Are Syracuse geeks next?
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#6Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…
What distinguishes "true geeks" from the pretenders?
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm holding out for when the "No True Geek" fallacy becomes a thing. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_True_Scotsman )
Nerd chic is as dead as punk in 1990. Most social movements are commoditized by way of cultural signifiers, and when the cultural impact of those signifiers goes away, so does the soul of the movement. "Nerd" used to be about the intellectualism of it, the replacement of certain social interactions with an indie academic mindset. Now, "Nerd" is a marketing demographic, replete with physical identifiers: black plastic…
It sounds like you are describing a "hipster" more than a "nerd", but maybe the two have become one in the same in some ways.
That said, "true nerds" were never in it for the recognition as a "nerd" or as part of some "movement" they just were. And they will continue to be that way after the general populations has moved on to usurp some other image. They may not be called "nerds" but they won't care what they are called.
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#8Checked out the offending work. New Egg's Geek On logo bares absolutely zero resemblance to Best Buy's Geek Squad logo. Best Buy doesn't own everything "geek" and orange. Are Syracuse geeks next?
Apparently anyone wearing a blue polo shirt and khakis is off-limits, too.
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#9Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…
Hacker.
It's still a term that's viewed negatively by mainstream, so you're unlikely to see "Hacker Squad" signs.
Re: Now That Everyone Wants to Be a Geek, Lawyers Have Been Called
#10Someone the other day was commenting on the whole 'everyone wants to be a geek now' thing and wondering what to call true geeks now. I told him not to worry and that another word would soon be coined to make fun of the true geeks, as always happens. People just can't resist tormenting people who are different. I am a little surprised that it hasn't happened yet... But then, maybe I'm too old and not hip with the new…
What distinguishes "true geeks" from the pretenders?
I think that if you are really passionate about something specific that makes you a geek, although I might add a qualifier that it generally has to be an intellectual pursuit.
Most importantly, being a "geek" is not about an image, it's a way of looking at the world.