by Thomas Wailgum

The Triumph of the Geek: The Evolution of Tech-Obsessed Nerds Through Time

News
Apr 29, 20095 mins

No so long ago, the computer geek (origin: Dorkus IBM-us) was confined to the back rooms and basements of companies everywhere. White dress shirts (sleeves optional), thin black ties and horn-rimmed glasses were standard issue. Mainstream social acceptance? Not so much.n Over each succeeding decade, however, geeks have crept out of their shells, changed their look and gained more acceptance in business and in society. The results of which can be seen today: Geeks and their much-loved tech have thoroughly invaded the mainstream. Let's take a tour through the ages, shall we?

No so long ago, the computer geek (origin: Dorkus IBM-us) was confined to the back rooms and basements of companies everywhere. White dress shirts (sleeves optional), thin black ties and horn-rimmed glasses were standard issue. Mainstream social acceptance? Not so much.

Over each succeeding decade, however, geeks have crept out of their shells, changed their look and gained more acceptance in business and in society. The results of which can be seen today: Geeks and their much-loved tech have thoroughly invaded the mainstream.

Let’s take a tour through the ages, shall we?

dotcom_millionaire-100351469-orig.jpg

Purists would say that the tech appearance declined in the 1990s—where did the bow ties and suspenders go? But so did the standards for why VCs would fork over millions to nearly anyone with a dotcom-related “business plan” (“Got a PowerPoint deck, elevator pitch or words scribbled on napkin? You do. Great!”). No matter, the ’90s geek flourished with a new, casual look that screamed: “I know technology, I’ll be working here for three months tops, and you need to pay me truckloads of money.”

geek_squad-100351471-orig.jpg

Yet there still have been tech ventures with retro nods to past geek lore. Take, for instance, the Geek Squad agents, who became ubiquitous in the 1990s for their 1950s look, glasses, door-to-door tech service and distinctive VW Bug vehicles.

summit_nerds-100351472-orig.jpg

And lots of other people still love the classic nerd look: Dressing up like good ol’ Poindexter just never seems to get old.

it_backroom-100351473-orig.jpg

Just like their 1940s and ’50s IBM predecessors, today’s IT geeks have got the mental goods to oversee complicated, bleeding-edge technology. And although the hardware has gotten smaller, geeks must now deal with global infrastructure headaches, constant security threats and tech-savvy (a.k.a. “know it all”) users.