I was working tonight (it’s currently 10 to 11pm), and while waiting for a system to finish a backup (prior to a reboot, prior to a change, prior to test, prior to another reboot) I was breifly browsing the funnies. Suddenly a rediculous technicality pointed out by a peer (peer being used loosely– the topic at hand was ridicule directed at another for not knowing the obvious difference between Mb and MB– which ANY fledgling geek would instantly recognize as the difference between bits and bytes) made me breifly ponder the realistic diffence between a deep logical understanding of technology and frivolous trivia.
Does it really matter what MB means? Frankly, 90% of my job could eventually be done by anyone who’d managed to successfully check out a library book on google seaching (bonus points to the dolt who actually managed to download it instead of checking it out), yet somehow the difference is inherently obvious to US.
I’m not kidding about that. I’m not the best tech out there, but I’m good enough to
understand why the best techs out there are the best techs out there. Having been in the presence of greatness, I can legitimately say that a real geek knows when they’re talking to someone significant. It’s not about triva. It’s about being able to see past the things you can see. It’s not about getting things done, it’s about the BEST way they can be done. Looking back I think that was the Achilles’ heel of my early carear, and I’m surprised it didn’t cost me more. I was very good at gettings things done, most often better than my immediate peers, but I rarely cared about perfecting my effort. Done was done, and I was lazy.
It’s taken me more than a decade of work to begin caring about looking deep enough at myself to see what my Dad used to when he gave me my first job sweeping floors and fixing macintosh’s (similar endevors, Geniuses)– a ten year old with a screwdriver. So eager to take things apart, and SO unlikely to put them back together correctly. The real value of that story is that he put himself on the line and gave me the job anyway– a risk (eventually?) worth taking, I like to think.
Anyway, the depth of technology is why I love technology. Not that an advanced technical understanding is really any different than being a master carpenter (props to Mr. Norm Abrams), I’m just better at paying attention to that man behind the curtain than I am at making my own router templates.
