We’re All Nerds Now
nytimes.com
We’re All Nerds Now
1–10 of 30 posts
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#2People (outside IT) are not interested in knowing more about tech. For them technology is nothing more than magic, and they have no problem with that, nor at work or at home.
Having an iPhone in your hand does not make you a "nerd". It makes you stupid in my eyes, when I discover you use it only for messaging and calls.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#3People (outside IT) are not interested in knowing more about tech. For them technology is nothing more than magic, and they have no problem with that, nor at work or at home. Having an iPhone in your hand does not make you a "nerd". It makes you stupid in my eyes, when I discover you use it only for messaging and calls.
Why does owning an iPhone make you stupid? That comment is stupid (Note: I do not own an iPhone and never have).
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#4People (outside IT) are not interested in knowing more about tech. For them technology is nothing more than magic, and they have no problem with that, nor at work or at home. Having an iPhone in your hand does not make you a "nerd". It makes you stupid in my eyes, when I discover you use it only for messaging and calls.
Why does owning an iPhone make you stupid? That comment is stupid (Note: I do not own an iPhone and never have).
My interpretation of GP's comment: Owning an iPhone doesn't make you stupid, owning it for just messaging and calling does.
I disagree, though. I have a number of friends with iPhones they use for little more than that, but they were free from their spouse or a family member. They either don't pay for a data plan or the data plan is part of a shared family plan so cost-wise it's a wash compared to dumbphones. They also happen to have a decent amount of storage (though not competitive with things like the iPod Classic until this latest generation of iPhone) so they can carry just the phone and have their music, calling and messaging in one device.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#5People (outside IT) are not interested in knowing more about tech. For them technology is nothing more than magic, and they have no problem with that, nor at work or at home. Having an iPhone in your hand does not make you a "nerd". It makes you stupid in my eyes, when I discover you use it only for messaging and calls.
> It makes you stupid in my eyes, when I discover you use it only for messaging and calls.
I understand what you're trying to say, but I think there are better ways to say it.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does owning an iPhone make you stupid? That comment is stupid (Note: I do not own an iPhone and never have).
My interpretation of GP's comment: Owning an iPhone doesn't make you stupid, owning it for just messaging and calling does. I disagree, though. I have a number of friends with iPhones they use for little more than that, but they were free from their spouse or a family member. They either don't pay for a data plan or the data plan is part of a shared family plan so cost-wise it's a wash compared to dumbphones. They al…
In many cases, technology is just a symbol of status. People buy iPhones, kindles iPads, macs etc because its on tv and movies now. That is what it means to become mainstream. I think that's what the first meant about only using for calling and texting.
Excuse me if I sound a bit like what Munroe says is the 'revenge of the nerds', but to me a nerd is someone who has very specific interests. Interests which most of the time, alienate most people, since they are specific. You identify yourself not because you own a tech device, but because you are very interested in a topic. I see nerds as producers and not consumers.
Nerds are people who write fanfic,or make drawings of Game of Thrones. Not someone who simply watches a TV show.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#7I'm not really convinced.
The article's arguments for "geek culture" (might I add there is no such thing as a homogenous geek culture, but hey) proliferating are:
a) The recent popularity of sci-fi and superhero films.
b) The mass spread of consumer electronics and social media.
c) Computer technology becoming more accessible.
d) The information age enabling us to find trivia at a much faster rate than ever before.
e) Recent tech company acquisitions. (Twitch, Mojang, Oculus)
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a) is not indicative of any long-term acceptance and popularity of "geekdom". Sci-fi, superhero and fantasy films have fluctuated in popularity on and off over the past 40 years. We're simply at another point where they've picked up again. In fact, the article does mention this quite neatly: "In the past, there have been plenty of pop culture phenomena nerds could get behind — the frenzies surrounding the “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” movie franchises are two potent examples."
This is out, then.
b) is a technological inevitability. It has nothing to do with a spike in "geekdom". It's just progress, and in fact, one might make an argument that it is, to some extent, a regression. This is due to the locked down and obscurantist nature of consumer electronics, which discourage hacking and where everything is buried under a smoke screen. Social media? The Web is becoming ever more ubiquitous, so of course social media will as well. Social media has become more practical due to advances in web technology.
c) is closely related to b). As I stated, it may actually well serve as an argument against proliferation of "geekdom".
d) This means little, again. People have always been passionate about fiction they're invested in, so it's only normal that they'll memorize factoids and trivia. Honestly, if people think the best thing that came out of the Information Age is being able to look up factoids about television shows, what a miserable failure it is then.
e) is just tech giants being tech giants. Hurray?
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Finally, I'd like to state that The Big Bang Theory has a rather... mixed reception, to put it euphemistically. In addition, installing a printer isn't always so simple. CUPS is nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but I still find myself having to reset the printer driver for the UI quite frequently, as it just arbitrarily blocks. I don't know.
And of course, the irony of taking a jab at that "homogenous, sexist geek culture" while writing about how a very watered down variant of it might be becoming popular.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#8I think there needs to be a distinction (when using the term Nerd) between people who use technology, and those who create it. Users of technology are more commonly called "Customers". Or "Consumers" in the new parlance. Whereas traditional Nerds are far more deeply involved with the technology, and grok it in it's fullness as they combine it into things never before seen.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#9No, we're not, at last not in the original meaning. Nerd used to mean someone obsessed and therefore knowledgeable about something (book nerd, comic nerd, or... The War Nerd[1]). Later geek took over that meaning and nerd moved towards someone socially awkward but smart.
Owning a smartwatch, reading a best seller novel, or watching a blockbuster doesn't make anyone a nerd. Not any more than wearing aviator sunglasses makes me a pilot. Which is actually what nerd tends to mean now, a style, a fashion fad inspired by the original.
Ironically, yet also completely predictably when you think of it, the original demographic is starting to look down on the nerd interests of yesteryear. You can read very dismissive (and downright insulting but that's a given) comments about anime and computer gaming on 4chan of all places.
Re: We’re All Nerds Now
#10sorry, but everybody * is not * a nerd until they're reading articles on beam-forming with wifi antennas with rapt attention.