once more into the geek
Stephen Lynch, who wrote the article in the NY Post I linked yesterday, sent me a link to his personal website, where he has the full text of his original draft:
Geekdom is a clique like any other, and there were those who felt things have gotten out of hand lately. Like a cult rock band that scored a top 40 hit, geek entertainment got too big, ruining the fun.It's a great story, and it's a shame the editors had to cut it down so much. It's really interesting to read his original draft, and compare it to the story that ultimately ran in yesterday's Post. I know firsthand how much it hurts to cut down something you love because of space considerations, but isn't it great that we live in the age of blogs, where wonderful words that would otherwise get thrown away can still be read?Only the truly dedicated will stick with it, Wheaton enthuses.
"There are so many geek poseurs. Putting on Weezer glasses does not make you a geek," he says. "Until you have tasted the sting of a dodgeball on your face, you are not really a geek."
Mikki Halpin, author of The Geek Handbook: User Guide and Documentation for the Geek in Your Life, believes "there will still be comic book conventions and sci-fi movies, but the line won’t be as long."
Which isn’t to say there won’t be a period of geek mourning. Halpin advises charity — nerd style.
"If you have a geek in your life, give them a project – they love projects," she says.
To which I say: Anyone need their hard drive formatted?
Comments
Stephen actually has a few interesting articles there... it's always nice to discover a new writer on these here intarwebs.
Now, we just have to teach Mr. Lynch about RSS and we'll be in good shape.
--AJ
Posted by: AJ | May 20, 2005 10:51 AM
Culture-wise, as I said to the last post, I think we'll be fine. Bring on the refiner's fire.
There is, actually a point that I've thought of in the meantime. Looking at one particular avenue of geekery, programming. Programmers were such a hot commodity that companies had to not recruit, but practically court new employees. That's changing. Even just in the last few years that I've been married to a dev for MS (don't shoot!), I've seen a serious decline in the treatment of "professional geeks." Less and less perks are coming forth; more and more jobs are being outsourced (to India, mostly).
Devs in some groups, unfortunately even here at Unimatrix 01, are being worked to a degree that it'd be illegal to make a physical laborer work. I don't know if you saw this (ea_spouse)when it made the rounds of the internets initially, but it pretty well sums up the position a lot of devs find themselves in all to often (at EA, at MS, and elsewhere)
If there will be an end to geekdom as a subset of society, this will be it's undoing, not a lack of Braga-muck.
Posted by: naiah christine earhart | May 20, 2005 1:35 PM
Absolutely! Having the blogs and stuff is very much like having the director's commentary on DVDs. Sometimes, it's nice to be able to be able to get the more complete story.
Posted by: Greg | May 20, 2005 6:59 PM
Geek poseurs! Who ever thought we, of all people, would have wannabes?
Nerds and geeks are not interchangeable breeds htough. A nerd can be a geek, but a geek can not be a nerd.
For example, a geek might watch TV on his computer. A nerd would run a live capture card and be streaming it out from his server over his cable connection so he can watch it- from work. Or on his laptop. In the living room.
Posted by: R(k) | May 20, 2005 10:05 PM
Geeks will always be geeks. That's what makes us so ... geeky. (Side note: For me it wasn't a dodgeball, it was a full-weight cricket ball. And yes, it was in the face. Hurt like hell.)
A friend of mine is currently exploring the possibility of studying nanotech at Uni next year, and with Naiah's comments about the way that Dev jobs have been going I wondered; could nanotech be the next bastion of professional geeks?
Ah well. Be well.
MJE
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Posted by: Markham Eggleton | June 9, 2005 6:13 AM