Some people understand new technology and some just don't - or won't. Those who do, are the ones who are often referred to as geeks. I was watching the story on 60 minutes about The Geek Squad recently and there they concluded that if you can pick up the remote of a new TV, set it up correctly in the menus, or find all the correct settings of a new digital camera and so on, without reading the manual you are a geek.

Many people think a generation gap divides the general  understanding of technology. The kids understand it - the parents don't. To some extent I agree. Remotes, menus and settings on modern devices does not necessarily make any sense to my parents. The functions does not come naturally to them. Quite the opposite. And it is no surprise. They have owned a much more limited amount of electronics. But I must say I am surprised about the amount of younger people who struggles with technology. Even though they are on their 10th cell phone, have owned at least a couple of PC's, and have a flat-panel TV with a digital recorder - they have absolutely no knowledge or understanding about it. A new remote looks Greek to them, the slightly different menus on a new Nokia phone sets them back months in usage, and God forbid the PC should start behaving out of order.

Then they have to ask "The Friend". Everybody has one of these friends. This is their on personal geek [in the new and broader definition of the word.] The friend how always knows how to set things up. To his friends he is a geek. He doesn't have a degree from MIT, he doesn't work as a computer programmer, but he gets technology. Your friendly neighborhood geek.

This term still applies, in our age of technology, to a limited amount of people. In the 90ies I tried not to be a geek (I guess all the role-playing did not help me much), but I felt really king-of-the-hill each time somebody came to me and asked for help with a computer or a gadget. I knew I had an understanding of technology, I was an early adapter, got online before many other and so on. But as the usage of Internet, PC's and mobile phones accelerated I expected everybody else to become more knowledgeable as well.  Of course  I knew I would always have to help my parents, but everybody else should become more adept as time went by, and younger generations would make sure the skilled would be greater in numbers eventually. Now - 15 years later - I am a bit surprised that this doesn't seem to be so.

Is it so that, even if we have used much more technology, the technological development is still going so fast that the people can't follow? Are the number of geeks now the same as before? Are the main population always 5-10 years behind on technological skills, and the geeks are still the only ones who manages to keep up on knowledge?

If so - then I am a geek. Based on all the other gadgets and devices I have set up in the past I expect functionality or buttons on a remote to behave the way I assume the first time I see it. The symbols on a remote or names in a menu might not be identical as a previous device but the meaning of the falls into place as you see them. If it doesn't then it only takes a few minutes longer to find the correct one. A new computer is a fun day at the office (or even better -  a Saturday DIY at home) and the launch of a new operating system from Microsoft is every Christmas and birthday wrapped up in one great day of joy. Does this make me a geek? To my technologically challenged friends it does. To all programmers, hackers, and skilled developers who have used the term previously, I apologize for stealing your title - but to me your are, after all, Über-Geeks!