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THE BIG TAKEOVER The birth of punk in the '70s gave nerds such as Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, and Devo an outlet for energy, but indie rock transformed the culture into a style. Clunky glasses, bowling shirts, and racing jackets can be attributed to DIY bands like Beat Happening and Mudhoney. The natural, nonchalant, and cheap look of these bands has been appropriated by stores ranging from Kmart to Bloomingdale's. The look is everywhere. On 90210, Tori Spelling started dressing like a riot grrrl, wearing barettes and baby-Ts. Chain stores like Urban Outfitters raid thrift shops and mark up the obviously used clothes - just like they do to clothes that come straight from the sweatshop. Even boy bands like 'N Sync dress down for photo shoots. As a result of the commercialized indie look, it's hard to identify indie-rock geeks by appearance alone. The fashion has crossed over into hipsterland, where people wear nonprescription glasses to look like brains, little backpacks to look like little kids, and polyester to look like they just don't care. |
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SUPERTOUCH Silicon Valley has turned the nerds and geeks into flag-carrying symbols of the American Dream. From Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs making Apples in their garage to David Filo and Jerry Yang starting Yahoo!, nerds have become heroes and role models. The biggest eruption from the popping of the nerd zit in the sky is the success and celebritydom of computer dorks like Bill Gates. Covered by books, magazine covers, op-ed pieces, TV mini-series, and anti-trust suits, he's been called a genius, a visionary, and an antichrist. Because Gates has more money than god, every other geek is now a possible force to be reckoned with.  |
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ENDTRO The rise of the nerds isn't a bad thing. It's just a shifting of positions. Whether it's like the Age of Mammals stomping on the Age of Dinosaurs, or the Qing Dynasty taking over the Ming Dynasty only to be taken by the Japanese and then the Communists in China, remains to be seen. More likely, the nerds will blend in with the jockulatory powers that be, like Scott Radinsky, who pitches for Major League Baseball and sings for the punk rock band Ten Foot Pole, or Chris Peters, the Microsoft millionaire who joined and then bought the Professional Bowlers Association with two high-tech tycoon friends. What does the empowerment of nerds mean to you? Faster Internet access, more restaurants that deliver, video games in which you can play against each other on the Net, geeks getting the girls or guys in movies, and Al Gore in the White House might not be so bad. And what about the nerds of the past? The ones who married ugly people, were never considered chic, didn't get IPOs, played second-string on the junior varsity tennis team, never got to hide behind e-mail accounts, and had only Potsie and Ralph as role models - they can only be philosophical about their groundbreaking roles in society, as must all people who are ahead of their time. 
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