But, hrm, no computers... I'd have to imagine back to before I got interested in them. Heh, I don't think I'd really be any different, just the same weird guy but doing different stuff.

The question really is, what effect does computing have on the geek mindset? Does it make us hide away in the lab or our room, or would we do that anyway with something else? Anyone have a clear enough memory to remember that far back, or are you all like me and can't hardly remember the day before? ;) How do computer geeks see themselves in comparison to non-computer geeks (and vice-versa)?

computers allow geekiness to be given a creative mode of expression, one that is constantly changing and developing. many other geeky obsessions have a finite range of interest, for example your dad's vintage radios and guns, uilleann. however, computers have an almost endlessly expansive future, which is mainly what keeps geeks fascinated, rather than their past.

the computer geek has the opportunity to usefully apply their obsession, and have it constantly challenged. and computers have made geekiness fashionable, and far less exclusive. they reach into so many aspects of life that far more people can become obsessed with them than with, say, maths or physics.

Knowing a lot about computers is really just like knowing a lot about cars. They are mechanical things and you can build them and/or drive them, and some people are really good at building and some are really good at driving, but some like to do a little of both. No one ever calls the gear-heads who hot-rod their cars geeks. At least not any more. 100 years ago they were, but not now, not that everyone uses them. Now you can either be an engineer who designs the cars, or the mechanic who works on them, or just a guy who changes his own oil. But the words are now "professional", "loser" and "thrifty".

I've seen the same thing happen in the last 30 years. People who could get a computer to do anything usefull were once wizards, Now, when every kid grows up using them, know *about" computers gets a big yawn. It's a big intellectual challange to write production quality software, but we don't call it geeky - it's a profession.

Finally, let's look at the TV show "Beat the Geeks". They also got it just right. There are 4 geeks - Movies, Music, TV and something else. None of these guys know anything about computers, yet they know so much about their area of interest that you reguard them as freaks. That is what makes them geeks. I may be about to make computers sing and dance, but I look up to those guys.

Are people who like cars not geeks because cars are too common, or because they don't exhibit geeky traits (which skylar says to be "isolation, going against the grain, teenage years locked in your bedroom")?

I think that car-loving people tend to typically be regular (non-geeky) people, whereas computer people can be casual users (e-mails, web, etc.), game playing 3l337s, or geeks who hide away and do clever stuff.

I actually find it hard to imagine geeks other than computer geeks, maybe because I can't really picture people sitting in their bedroom doing maths or science; then we have things like theatre geeks, where I don't have a clue - it's probably just their way of saying that they're a geek, and also like the theatre. Unless you really can be geeky over it? No idea :)

This is probably more your area than mine, have fun :)

- Uilleann

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Originally posted by uilleann: (PS quantumfluff, I'm a he (see the All About You forum) ;-)

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Back when I didn't know that I could make a living with computers, I thought I would likely become a librarian when I grew up. Or maybe a mathematician.

Without computer, we could at least use electric-wire like Ben Franklin or Edison Thomas, I guess. We could be one of them as geek-fellow.