First portable Apple computer. |
Twenty years ago, it wasn’t cool to be called a geek.
- Books: Everyone read them; only geeks actually liked them.
- Glasses: If you could wear contacts, you wore them. Now they’re considered fashion accessories.
- Computers: Only nerds knew how computers worked. Students didn’t usually write papers using computers. Now, you can’t get most jobs unless you know how to use a computer and being cutting-edge when it comes to technology is accessible and fashionable.
- Websites: Only super geeks had websites. Seeing the appeal of self-publishing, I started publishing my own content online in 1997.
- Star Wars and Star Trek: Only geeks liked movies about outer space–and geeks were they only ones who went to conventions. Now fans of all different types of movies flock to mega-conventions.
- E-mail: My first e-friends lived in Wisconsin and Ireland. People thought it was strange that I’d want to talk to others on the computer, but I knew that I could learn from their experiences. Now, people constantly network online on sites like LinkedIn and Facebook.