The Tech Hierarchy

It occurred to me the other day, while I was talking to a group of people who are defined by age, gender and occupation as decidedly non-techie that there is a whole side of the world that has little or no knowledge of or interest in the things that I take for granted everyday. To these people technology exists only at a level about five years behind where I stand and only at the level where technology is mainstream. I was explaining something mundane about digital cameras and printers in what I assumed was a fairly basic way but from the glassy eyes and disinterested faces I could tell that I was still pitching it way above their heads.

I am not sure that I live on the bleeding edge of technology but, sure, it is more than a hobby for me. In fact technology is an integral part of my lifestyle. I get excited about gadgets, understand how things work and love to explore alternatives to the accepted standards. It is what I do. I get it. In this I am not at all different to a lot of Geeks out there. How often do we stop and consider that there is this whole world of people who just don’t care.

As I see it there a number categories of people out there as defined by their use of technology.

The Geeks

Geeks are the early adopters. The people who don’t just use technology they bend it to their will. They understand the acronyms, they get latest internet memes and move on to something else before the rest of the world catches on. They care about how technology is used and can’t imagine a life that is devoid of it. Geeks can’t walk past technology without examining it. Geeks speak another language. To non-Geeks the sound of Geeks talking sounds like dial-up modems shaking hands. Geeks can be further divided. The General Geek who lives for tech and has fingers in many pies. The Gadget Geek who must have the latest phones, machines, GPS and must hack them to do things they were never intended for. The Programmer who lives to code. The Gaming Geek.

Geeks used to use Facebook and moved on to something new. Geeks use Twitter. Geeks use Flickr. Geeks write blogs. If it is cutting edge they are there.

The Kids

For all that they have their flaws most kids know their way around tech. While I was some kind of outsider on the fringe of cool because of my fetish for tech as a teen for kids today tech is important. Kids know what phones are cool and why. Kids know what computers are cool and why. Kids are the next in line to pick up on internet memes and run with them. Kids aren’t geeks though. If it breaks they can’t fix it. The don’t hack. They may have their own languages but they don’t code. Kids like tech that is cool and cool can be marketed to them. They like tech for what it does for them i.e. communication. They communicate with each other and the coolness of their gadgets helps communicate their social status. It used to be what trainers you wore. Now it is which DAP you have. If you don’t know what a DAP is you aren’t in the top category.

The Consumers

Like the kids the consumers like tech for what it does for them. They need to be told what it will do for them and tend to rely on some extremely dodgy advice. They adopt a technology only when it has hit the mainstream and then they love it. Apple sold 1 million iPods between 2001 and 2003 – it now sells 10 million per quarter. What happened? The consumers. These people need to be told what to buy. They listen to the gadget guy on the television. Sales people love them. The ask advice from people little equipped to give it and accept it willingly. They don’t care how it works they just want it to work and if it breaks they can’t fix it. Consumers don’t choose their technology they buy what everyone else buys and may not even be aware there is a choice. Acronyms confuse them and when they do latch onto something they become fixated with it as though this little piece of knowledge gives them power. It just sets them up to be sold to.

Consumers are still using Facebook, they use Windows and think its great. They don’t know the difference between AAC, WMV, MP3, MP4 and LCD and don’t care.

The Technophobes

They use computers at work (who doesn’t), but really have little idea of what they are actually doing. They make themselves helpless and seek help at the drop a hat. They blindly click things and fumble around generally doing more harm than good. When it breaks they get someone else to fix and stare glassy eyed when something is explain of a vaguely technical nature. To them technology is something to be in awe of and that other people deal with. They are proud of knowing little and will happily tell anyone who cares to listen. They may have a computer or even an DAP but are terrified of it. The consider anything untoward that happens to their devices must be their fault (it normally is). They may have some notion of what other people do with computers but have no access to the knowledge and no confidence that they could use it. They consider the Consumers to be technological masters in the same way that the Consumers consider the Geeks and Kids.

The Luddites

If you know anyone who doesn’t use technology and doesn’t want to then hey probably fall into this category. They just don’t care. They don’t own a computer and don’t see the need. Their life is a void of technology and will use it only under duress. To them technology is the subject of scorn or irrelevancy.

In part two I will examine what technology each category uses and develop a scoring system so you can tell where you fit.