So I guess "geek" is the new "indie" 'round these parts
jgh:
There are plenty of good reasons to make fun of/dislike Kelso from That 70s Show. But to assume an actor, however attractive or popular, can’t be a geek? You wind up sounding just as close-minded as those asshole scenester kids who claimed they only liked Pearl Jam when they were known as Mighty Joe Young.
On the one hand, I agree with not making assumptions about people based on their public personas, because pseudo-personas go hand-in-hand with pseudo-events, etc etc. On the other hand, I am sick of conventionally pretty women who coo over their iPhones and have their Tumblr passwords locked into their Firefox preferences claiming that the “geek” mantle is theirs and being rewarded for it while, well, not really showing any chops at all. But I think that problem is more rooted in sexism, and these sorta-attractive ladies realizing how those tendencies run rampant within this subculture, and pandering to them. That doesn’t make it any less frustrating to people with actual bona fides, though!
DING DING DING DING DING DING DING
DING
But is it really their fault?
This is easy. It doesn’t take a ton of technical know-how to blog anymore, just the time to do it. DOS? Huge pain in the ass even compared to, say, Vista. If “geek” is defined by a familiarity with technology, and technology gets easier and easier to use, I think outrage over She Who Shall Not Be Named claiming the “geek” mantle is a whole mess of sound and fury, signifying nothing. Sure, it might be annoying, but what good is complaining about it going to do? If it’s a fad, it’ll burn out.
2005 those damn pink Boston hats were everywhere. They’re not now (same with a good deal of pink UGA stuff, thank science).
I’m just saying there’s far more productive stuff we could complain about. Like how the new Eminem CD has maybe three good tracks on it, or how AT & T is already started the PR war that will let them put caps on data plans in the future (or introduce a tiered system, so as to rip-off power users even more.)
Plus, if you give folks like SWSNBN more attention, that only encourages them. Surely die-hard geeks remember the classic BBS (and before) nugget of “don’t feed the trolls”?
