I had a chance to interact with "real" people over the last few days.  Gotta tell you, they are strange! 

What I realized was nobody really cares about tech.  In fact it appears as though most people actually despise it.  They are willing to tolorate it because it helps them in their day to day lives but if given the chance I think most of them would be much happier without a computer.  Don't get me wrong, they love their Tivos, iPods, cell phones and HDTVs, but outside of the basic consumer goods, they don't have any idea of the real benefits of technology.

I also realized that everyone is out for themselves.  I know it may sound like I'm a some kinda of wide eyed youth but if you know me you know that nothing is further from the truth.  It's not that I didn't know that people were out for themselves I've seen plenty of proofs over my life, it's more like I didn't want to believe that people always put themselves first.  Perhaps that's why I was drawn to computers in the first place, and in turn, to the ideals held by most people in the "geek" community.

Let's face it, geeks care about others.  That's not to say that we are all completly selfless but for the most part we tend to at least consider the needs and wants of others.  The "real" people talked about their "real" jobs and it got me thinking.  Most of them had jobs that could be greatly improved with some decent software if only they knew what they needed.  A company isn't going to pay for most of the software that would really make a difference in their work... that's just silly.  Companies have to spend lost of money on large and practically useless ERP systems to feel like they're getting the most from computers.  Truth is most of the people who do the day to day work could benefit dramatically with a few very simple utility apps.

I then tried to think about things the way I saw the "real" people thinking about them.  My thoughts jumped from all of the quick little apps I could write that would make all of their jobs easier to the realization that I could, given the knowledge I have of computers and the speed which I'm able to "pick up" new ideas, do their jobs.  Not only could I do many of their jobs, I could do many of them better, faster and with less error because most of what people do is repititous BS. 

"Real" people say things like "My inbox was so full of requests, I couldn't keep up.  I spent all day sending people reports." 

Geeks say things like "People were sending me mail all day asking for reports so I wrote an auto-reply script to fulfill their requests." 

While I was considering what life might be like as a closing agent or transportation manager I thought about what would have happened if someone like Bill Gates had decided, instead of producing software, to start an accounting firm.  Linux / OSX / XP wars aside.  Imagine the advantage for a single accounting firm with the ability to really use computers during a time when everyone was using pen and paper.  I don't know where it would have led, but I could picture MS becoming the one and only accounting firm in the world.  I could also see them branching off into an untold number of industries and dominating them all.  For whatever reason BG decided to stick with simply developing software for others.  I know it wasn't completely allturistic but it also wasn't completely selfish. 

Presented with two options: Win/Win and Win/Loose, Bill choose Win/Win.  From what I've seen most people choose the first/easiest Win scenario.  Most people with "power" choose a Win/Loose or even a Loose/Loose as long as their loss isn't as bad.  I always try for the Win/Win and even the occasional Loose/Win if I think it's the "right" thing to do, but I wonder if I'm not just making things harder on myself for no good reason. 

I wonder what it would be like if I played by the same rules as everyone else? 

I wonder what would happen if the geek community decided to hold "tech" closer to it's chest like the Freemasons did? 

Alas, it will never happen.  We are, for better or worse, predestined to give what we can and take only what we need...  Damn!

TTFN