This is not new news, I’m a nerd. Technology nerd, to be specific. I’m self-identifying as that thin slice of generation who 1) isn’t immensely pissed off at technology or scared of it and 2) wasn’t born with an mobile device in hand. Technically, I learned technology. Granted it was on DOS and I was 10.
My dad was instrumental in all of this. As a kid, he’d hand me the Consumer Reports to pick out our next round of gadgets. Most Christmases would turn up a new model of something or other. What all of this produced is an extremely good user. I get interfaces; I get tools. Something new comes out and I know how to navigate and use quickly. For me, technology is so exciting because the power of creation is getting easier and easier. My first social networking was Prodigy Bulletin Boards. Because of Tripod, I made my first website in 2001.
I realize that there are quite a few nerdier nerds than me. I can’t build computers. I still don’t know how to write code (but am getting pretty good at reading some). I still marvel at people who build the latest & greatest. Recently, I’ve started playing around with the concepts of design, function, social good, and technology. What allows my creation and expression with technology is that the real nerds are making this accessible to great users, like me. Simple and accessible tools – like WordPress – are giving me this possibility.
It dawned on me to write about this when someone asked if my WordPress hobby was a new trend in my life. I thought back and realized, “no”. I’ve just never given language to how I’ve participated in technology. Not a coder, not a builder, but a user.
Last month, I met some local QR guys and already I’m thinking about the applied uses for that technology in the social sector. Immediately, my mind travels to how do we make it beautiful, usable, and impactful. Until recently, I actually thought everyone thought like this (save for the pissed-off-people). It took a comment by a friend to acknowledge that no, it’s actually kind of strange. Nerds love strange.
Just a glimpse of how I’m playing around:
(The Victor Computer that is shown above was my first computer.)
I'm a great user.
