Having been a PCMech reader for a good while and a registered member for a short while, I’ve been increasingly impressed by Mr. Risley’s unabashed inclusion of non-tech topics in his weekly Editor’s Perspective column. For while the focus of the newsletter remains squarely on bits, bytes, and silicon, one comes away with the idea that its Owner/Webmaster could write no less convincingly about global events, media bias, or Paris Hilton, if such were his wont.
In a subtle way, this shows Mr. Risley’s confidence in himself and in us, his readers, to accept the notion that we computer enthusiasts do indeed have interests outside the PC shell, and, in fact, live multi-faceted lives in the same manner as do (gasp!) normal people. Naturally, the definition of “multi-faceted” runs hither and yon depending on the accuser. One would expect that a true geek might well consider himself eclectic if he can program in three languages-two more than the requisite résumé amount (provided one’s résumé does not include VB Script or Delphi, which, of course, do not count). But having earned a living in this industry for almost a quarter century as, at times, a computer operator, programmer, administrator, database coordinator, writer, editor, graphic designer, and Vice President of Internal Data Systems (don’t ask), I’ve been well-positioned to rub elbows with as many geeks as my various companies could offer. Funny thing, though. All I found were other regular people who also worked as computer operators, programmers, administrators, et al.
So whither the geeks? If it’s true that people fear what they do not understand (and it is), and if a great host of our population has still not adapted to the idea of owning a PC (and it hasn’t), the non-adapters must then deal with their fear in some way, even if it means stereotyping the techies as single-dimensional, pocket-protecting Dilton Doileys that can summarily be labeled with the G-word and dismissed as comfortable in a computer lab, but lost on the basketball court. I bring up basketball because that’s where I and two other guys are regularly schooled by three weasels (two programmers and a system designer) during lunchtime tête-à-têtes out on the court behind Building 34. These guys are good. They get good looks at the basket, they don’t take dumb shots, and their pick-and-roll would make Stockton and Malone salivate. Highly technical minds, yes. Basketball savants, certainly. Geeks, who’s to say? They didn’t pick up those moves in the computer lab, so I’m at a loss as to explain both their algorithmic proficiency and half-court prowess. The only thing clear to me is that, prolific though geeks may be, in 25 years on the job, I have yet to meet one.
But geeks or no geeks, if the talented Mr. Risley has enough chutzpah to regularly expose his own facets in a worthy, high-tech vehicle as PCMech, I can certainly and enthusiastically follow his lead each week. My desire for this column is that you will: 1) read it all the way through; 2) find it worthwhile; and 3) not say bad things about me behind my back.
For while I make my primary living deep in the crevasses of the software world, one of my own otherworldly facets involves meeting the minds of others who share my passion for those humming metal boxes. Even if there really are no such things as geeks.
Nerds, however, are another matter altogether.
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