Ok...it's 2008. The 21st Century. According to Science Fiction, we're supposed to be in flying cars (which exist, but let's face it; post 9/11 I doubt anyone would trust a million potential flying missiles in the skies), be wearing either lots of leather or silver, traveling through space for vacation or on business to our offices or resorts on other moons or planets, have abolished bullets for lasers and have robots do our bidding.
In reality, we can be thankful for at least some of the tech we've waited for. We wanted flip open communicators that responded to voice command, pocket sized computers, wrist sized televisions, robots that vacuum floors, talking devices that guided our journeys, pocket sized lasers (granted they don't cut holes through steel, voice activated cars, small micro chips that carry information and media, boxes that cook our foods quickly and more. The problem was that when we got them they didn't seem so cool anymore. The biggest mistake anyone can make is saying "when I get what I want, I'll be happy". I guess we'll want and want for things but when they finally come, they're not so interesting in reality.
Talking to a dear friend the other day, we wondered what a geek was these days. It used to be you were a geek if you stayed in the house in front of a computer all day. If you were obsessed with the latest gadgets you were a geek. If you'd rather communicate via electronics over face to face you were a geek or a nerd. That line is so thin now it seems the difference between being cool and being a nerd is whether like in Tron, you're a programmer or a user.
Today's kids live like they're cross wired with a central processing unit in their brains. I was in a Sprint store where the counter man noted that it's odd how more people would rather text than talk to people these days. In our technological age we've reverted to typing small notes that deliver themselves over the air as opposed to in a mailbox. We email more than we send regular mail and expect each email to be taken to heart and memorized. Even worse is the blogger. The self styled news journalist who believes each post they write is a major thesis or news column that all should heed as law. Oddly, I'm probably guilty of this too and I admit it. I sent every friend of mine over 30 feeling they were getting old the link to my "40 is the new 20" post.
Technology is dangerous. There are no geeks. We now sit in front of computers and our topics of discussion when we finally come face to face is whether or not you saw a "famous video" on youtube or not.
Our world is filled with new terms like "iEverything" and "somethingTUBE". There's an "i" in front of anything related to portable media and now there are "TUBES" for every subject popping up on the internet.
When we were younger and didn't know anything, if we wanted to know something we went to a dictionary or encyclopedia . Remember those huge books of knowledge you'd flip through? Now the general answer for "What's this?" is "IDK...GOOGLE it!". First of all. I hate people who talk in initials or L337 speak. Spell it out or talk. It won't hurt. Guess what? IDK and I DON'T KNOW have the EXACT SAME AMOUNT OF SYLLABLES!
Since when did GOOGLE become the Great Gazoo of knowledge that is the only answer to life itself? By the way (saying By the way has less syllables than actually SAYING BTW ) if you don't know who the Great Gazoo is, well I guess you'll have to GOOGLE it then watch him on YOUTUBE.
Geeks: People who spend most of their time locked up in their rooms on computers writing programs so people can blog, make social portals like myspace and designing communicators that watch entertainment programs like YOUTUBE.
Cool Kids: People who spend most of their time locked up in their rooms on computers using the programs the geeks made. Enjoy your blogs and myspace watching youtube while texting on your communicator.
Pretty blurry line, huh?