Geek Cred

I’ve been an avid reader of science-fiction and fantasy for almost as long as I’ve been able to read. I’ve been playing computer games for ages. Not the popular shoot-anything-that-moves variety, but the immerse-yourself-in-a-fantasy-world-and-customize your-character-as-you-gain-experience type. I’ve never played a pen-and-paper Dungeons and Dragons game, but I know a lot of the rules. I buy computers in pieces and I have enough spare parts to get about 2 more up and running if I felt like it. I worked in Windows, UNIX, Linux and MacOS. I’ve written programs in Java, C, C++, Scheme and Pascal. I make my web pages in Windows Notepad. Can you see where I am going with this? I’m a geek. I’ve been a geek for as long as I can remember and I’ve been happy to be one. But now, I’m starting to worry about my geek credibility.

There was a time when doing one or two of the above would have easily earned you a geek card, but the world is changing quickly. The World Wide Web is popular now. Once upon a time, you would have been hard pressed to find someone who had experience “browsing the web.” Today you’d be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t. I remember when I was one of the proud few who could make CDs on my computer or who used their computer as a Stereo system. These things that once set me apart no longer do. Now, instead of a badge of geeky honor, my homebuilt computers are just painful reminders that I’m stuck behind the technology curve with no laptop. Ever since Napster, mp3s have lost their wow factor. “Computer gaming” doesn’t mean much as Xbox360, PlayStation 3 and even the Nintendo Wii are basically living-room computers. Non-geeks have their Myspace pages packed with embedded applets, cascading style sheets and dynamic content. There go my Notepad web page points.

I could try to turn to some of the things on my list that are pretty geeky, but I haven’t written a program in years. The last time I messed with Linux, I started installing it in Windows Virtual Machine just to see if I could, but then I gave up on it because I really had no plans of using it again once it was installed. Sure, I know a bunch of rules to D&D, but I’ve never played, so I don’t think that counts for much.

I used to pride myself on being a geek. Not just any geek either. I was the geek that didn’t fit the geek mold. I loved many things geeky, but I still had friends, had dreadlocks, could rap, and could dance on beat. I was the neo-nerd, the new face of geekdom. Now, I am just a normal guy – no more or less teched out than the next guy. I only started blogging last year, I wasn’t the first person I know to get a portable media player, and I don’t spend more time on the internet than other people my age. What happened to my geek credibility?

But wait! I have a secret weapon! Something that does set me apart! I’m paying too much attention to technology – my geek cred is firmly entrenched in the old school. I still read books. In our current society, where for many people Fahrenheit 451 might as well have been true, I still read, and even treasure, books.