Geeks ruling the world | Geek Mecca

FROM outcast to awesome and geek to chic. Being a nerd has never been so favourable.

Once banished to dark rooms to punch cryptic programming codes on to the glowing screens of bulky desktop computers, technology buffs have long been teased and taunted.

But with the rise of the internet, iPhones and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, it has never been cooler to be a computer boffin.

TV viewers flock to watch nerd-inspired shows such as Beauty and the Geek and The Big Bang Theory, while Mythbusters geeks Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage have helped make science cool for the masses.

Computer gurus such as Microsoft founder Bill Gates, late Apple boss Steve Jobs and Facebook co-creator Mark Zuckerberg have become household names, worshipped across the globe.

Hobart IT gurus Paris Buttfield-Addison and Jon Manning don?t really consider themselves to be nerds or geeks, but are happy if people call them that.

Mr Manning says he?s simply pleased that his craft has become more socially understood and accepted.

He and Mr Buttfield-Addison co-founded their mobile app and game development company Secret Lab in 2008 as University of Tasmania undergrads.

They are still based in Tasmania but now have offices in Silicon Valley and Europe and have worked in collaboration with industry giants Apple and Meebo.

They spend much of their time creating apps for iPhones and iPads a skill that people are awestruck by, which has helped fuel the shift from geek to chic.

?At school the skill of computers was a very niche thing but these days it?s not,? Mr Manning explains.

?People are amazed when you tell them you make apps for iPhones, they say, ?Wow, I didn?t realise you could do that?.? Mr Manning says people have realised that with a wealth of technology in everyday life everyone has smartphones, tablets and laptops it is in their interest to be tech-savvy.

And the fact that technology has become more fun think gaming consoles, phone apps and Facebook has also helped make tech-heads cool.

When they are in Australia, Mr Manning and Mr Buttfield-Addison spend much of their time working on a laptop in Oomph in Hobart, drinking up to 20 coffees a day between them.

There are none of the high-waisted pants, thick rimmed glasses or ill-patterned shirts, but the men are widely recognised for their trademark hats.

Some of the most-loved film, book and TV characters have nerdy tendencies, such as Millhouse from The Simpsons.

Heroines Willow Rosenberg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Harry Potter?s Hermione Granger are both bookish types, while X-Files characters Fox Mulder and Dana Scully and NCIS character Abby Sciuto have challenged geeky science stereotypes and helped make science cool.

Other well-known nerds include Roy and Moss from British comedy The IT Crowd, famous for their ?have you tried turning it off and back on again? catchcry, while Dexter Walker is Home and Away?s resident geek.

TV viewers can?t get enough of The Big Bang Theory?s Sheldon Cooper and Leonard Hofstadter, ubernerds who share an apartment and an appreciation for quantum physics.

Taroona High School student Owen Andrews is a proud supergeek in training.

The Year 10 student, 16 next month, is enamoured with technology and recently completed an intensive three-day app-making course under the guidance of the Secret Lab guys.

Kids enjoy learning from him, and consider geekiness a positive attribute.

?It definitely has changed,? says Owen. ?Fifteen or 20 years ago people were sitting in a dark room connecting wires up and they had to be pretty weird and geeky and into maths.

?But now technology is more accessible to everyone and I think the geeky side of it has slipped away.?

People who sat on a bus playing with a techno device were once considered odd but now it?s the norm spending time online has become a legitimate pastime.

Owen reckons people are increasingly realising that it?s good to be a geek because geeks create cool things and can earn big bucks. As Bill Gates once said: ?Be nice to nerds. Chances are you?ll end up working for one.?

Article source: http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/05/21/329941_tasmania-news.html

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