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Lionizing the geek: How did we go from nerd-zero to techie-hero? By
Leon D'souza
We knew them as the bespectacled loners -- socially deprived deskbound masterminds with a fashion sense that made the hippies seem cool. They spoke an alien tongue and delighted in spending quality time chatting in binary with their digital darlings. For most of us "normal" people, they personified all things unfashionable. The media detested them. They were "the nutty professors" or the helpless geeks who unintentionally shrunk their kids or themselves using some weird contraption they had hardwired in a makeshift laboratory. However, times are changing. Technology is continually transforming our lives. While the rest of us stand bamboozled, the geeks are unruffled. This is their era. Call it the revenge of the nerds. Yesterday's pocket-protecting bores are today's pop icons. How did this come to be? How did we go from nerd-zero to techie-hero? The story reads like this. Back in the days when computers were for the introverted and unfriendly, several industry associations and organizations in the academic world joined forces to resuscitate the humdrum image of the engineer. There was a pressing need to do so. According to a 1998 Information Technology Association of America report, there were about 190,000 unfilled IT jobs in the nation due to a shortage of qualified workers. Many felt that the negative stereotypes associated with technology workers had discouraged several teens from pursuing careers in science, technology and engineering. The dearth of engineers from minority backgrounds was of particular concern to industry bigwigs. Diversity is of vital importance in the engineering profession as it fuels creativity. Without diversity, engineering teams are limited in their efficacy. Thus, the campaign to expand and diversify the profession began. Reinventing the nerd was no easy task. It was also awfully pricey. First, the engineer's workspace had to look cool. People weren't buying into a world of cubicle walls and computer screens. The engineer had to have opportunities to socialize. Enter the dot-coms with their newfangled approach to the world of work. Company-sanctioned video game sessions and playing pool with the boss became the norm. Inside Google.com's Googleplex, employees enjoy free lunch five days per week, roller hockey games, bike rides, and sauna and massage therapy! All in a days work. Employers introduced a simple but often ignored element into the workplace: fun. Tech workers also needed mobility. They couldn't be allowed to stagnate. Career Development Programs included rotational assignments that would expose employees to every facet of a business in a wide array of work settings and geographic locations. Next, geeks needed an image makeover. No more scruffy hair and odd bow ties. The word "engineer" had to become synonymous with "sexy." Engineers had to look chic. Informal attire was in, and with their bulging paychecks techies could afford the very best. By now, industry had done a great deal to debunk hackneyed clichés about the tech world. Then came the mergers, acquisitions and glowing Initial Public Offerings. Geeks, with all their stock options, had arrived. Jeff Bezos, Shawn Fanning, Jerry Yang and Sabeer Bhatia represent a new class of nerds. They are liberated, prosperous and cool. The new work culture has helped encourage and retain good talent. Several youngsters are expressing an interest in technology-oriented professions. Nerds have even found support in some quarters of the media. The amazing success of Gus Van Sant Jr.'s Good Will Hunting is an excellent example of the changing face of the geek in the entertainment media. This is a film about intellectual talent as opposed to sporting talent, which has long enjoyed the spotlight. We are now witnessing what can best be described as the glorification of the geek. The nerd is no longer the social pariah. Today, more than ever, the "geek" label is like a badge of honor. At MIT, the world's high church of technology, students adorned Lobby 7 with a banner featuring Dilbert and his girlfriend, Liz, on Valentine's Day in 1995. The banner was the ultimate statement of geek pride. It read, "Kiss Me, I'm an Engineer." Nerds are with it, and they love the attention.
--Leon D'Souza is a communication
student and a contributor to the Hard News Cafe |
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