Nerds aren’t out of the woods just yet

Nerds have seen their stock rise dramatically in the Information Age. PBS even did that series called Triumph of the Nerds, exploring “how youthful amateurs, hippies and self-proclaimed ‘nerds’ accidentally changed the world.” But even as many a nerd makes peace with his painfully wedgied past via a six-figure IT salary, it’s helpful to remember that nerds are not completely rehabilitated, image-wise, by any means. As we speak, Vonage is stirring up some anti-nerd sentiment with its online banners to emphasize that its broadband phone service isn’t technologically baffling. “5 minute installation. No contracts. No nerds. No problem,” it says under the headline. We can feel the popular kids rushing to sign up.

—Posted by Tim Nudd

June 30, 2005 | Permalink