PSA: tech bros and people who buy the lastest iphone are not nerds!

The "nerds" I know spend days getting an obscure ROM to work on a 6 year old phone they got for free from a relative instead of chasing the latest tech. Having the newest and slimmest phone is about fashion, not hacking.

This comic confuses the nerd, who has a 12 year old laptop with netbsd on it, a flipphone, and a PSP they use to emulate a game boy advance, with those cosplaying as one by buying the newest tech gadget as soon as it is out.

The techbros pushing the singulrity are not nerds either. It's unclear if Musk ever really read Iain Banks' culture novels he keeps referencing, but if he did, he 100% missed their point.

The first half of this comic started to have a point, but kinda lost me as soon as the author started condemning the idea of having hobbies.

"nerds" please, say techbro. No one that's obsessed with computing is buying the thinnest macbook™. Nor are they incharge of making ot

Wanting a SteamDeck isn't the same as being racist (since you brought it up). A lot of nerds like things outside of computers and phones. In fact, some of us are pretty resourceful and reusing older devices for less waste and more privacy.

Last year I gave away my Switch because I didn't play it as much as I used to. Same with my old phone and hard drive. So spare me the self-righteous bullshit.

Also your comic sucks and is too wordy. It's a comic draw better pictures.

this is wrong usage of nerd, it describes tech bros. the actual nerds have enough class conciousness to oppose consumptionism and capitalism

Oh yeah! Do drag queens next! They just got their 15 seconds of fame a decade ago too!

Drags are ruining the planet! Makeup just kills kids in the third world! And fast fashion! And those lights! On the mirrors and the stage! Girl! Global warming!

Buncha rich white men wasting their lives pretending! Wigs in the trash! Cigarettes! Wanting to make everyone werk themselves to death trying to slay everyone!

I don't own a single computer newer than 2013. I keep a stack of old hardware people who upgrade throw away to ensure I'll ALWAYS have a supply of old computers I'll keep out of landfill.

Normal people spent decades IGNORING the warnings of nerds and buying the bullshit of tech bros, and now the nerds who tried to warn them get blamed for this mess? Piss off.

Here's the thing, I don't think the comic is Wrong. I tend to agree that consumption as an identity is fairly shallow and not particularly noble or beneficial to the enrichment of society or the individual.

However the comic falls short by only attacking one specific consumption hobby / identity. What about buying new trendy water bottles every season, or hobby dabbling, or movie buff, or social media scroller. Ultimately consumption as a whole is a pale reflection of production. Building, making, memeing, writing, exercise, photography, model building, Lego, Minecraft, Factorio. Helping others, volunteering, building relationships. These are the activities that enrich us and those around us.

This is why travel to sit in a hotel is fine and a little shallow and you'll have forgotten all about it in ten years. Travel and stay in a hostel and meet cool weird people in the common area and you'll remember them for the rest of your life.

Of course one can't produce all day every day. The person that only ever produces will burn out, and lose a sense of why they produce. Consumption and production should be balanced. I'm the first one to crash on the sofa and watch some Star Trek after a long day at the digital mines.

At least this is my philosophy.

The idea that the "nerd out" trend just turned into everyone sharing their favorite brands 🙂

The comic was dumb when it came out and it's a lot more dumb now.

If only the jocks or the theatre kids could accumulate all the capital, then our society would be saved!

^(Saudi Princes, PDiddy, Rupert Murdoch, etc)

Those aren't nerds dipshit, how about you confirm the coordinates before launching the missile

Get google imagesed with the worst quality screencap I can find

Don't fucking put that shit on nerds. The artist isn't describing nerds, they're describing capitalism and it's adherents. This isn't about nerds. Eg I go through way fewer electronics and gadgetry than the average iPhone idiot specifically because I'm a nerd. My phone is like 7 years old and I'm about to put PostmarketOS on it to try for another 7. I'm painstakingly bootstrapping the firmware on my old Ikea and Hue lights so I never have to buy new ones. I haven't bought a new computer in decades, I just franken-update as needed, not as desired. My car is a 2008 model because I know how awful the electronics are in new models and will do anything to avoid buying a new one.

Fuck this artist. They're is a god damned coward apologist for capitalism and is throwing nerds under the bus to do it.

This ignores the fact we live in a capitalistic hellscape which makes important tech jobs few and far between so they can continue to use us for war, invading privacy, spreading ads, and business software.

If I could take my skillset and walk into an organization that would use it to do good, and would pay a living wage, I'd do it tomorrow.

I can draw pictures, and play, or even make games on my own in bedroom.

I'm not going to solve the fucking energy crisis in my bedroom.

Shitty nihilism post, ugh. Gotta love people who are jerking themselves off for having an old iphone and a chromebook

I think people are being way too harsh on this comic. Yeah all of us are the kinda nerd to reuse and upcycle old tech and be a positive kind of nerd. Look at the site you are using guys, I think the nerd demographic might be skewed towards a certain kind here. It is also not saying all nerds, it mentions various ways nerds can be healthy and productive so clearly there are positive ways to be a nerd according to the author. And yeah it is focusing on the toxicity of nerd culture, which I think it is right about. There are nerds who are getting the brand new iphone, or the latest graphics card, or that new smarthome device. They are just a very specific but also very publicly facing and famous kind of nerd. For every Salem Techsperts, think of every Linus Tech Tips. Both are nerds, just different kinds of nerds, and unfortunately we are the minority.

If the comic doesnt describe you, then it isnt talking about you. Its talking about a certain kinda nerd. Should it use a more specific label like techbro? Yeah probably, but while thats true, I think we all also need to stop taking it so personally and recognize it aint talking about us. It is simply asking nerds not to be wasteful and to use our hobbies in a positive way. That is not a bad message.

I buy the latest and greatest CPU, but that's because I'm a Rust programmer and rustc is a resource pig. Also I would gladly double my compile times for a 10% improvement in end user performance.

I have the latest and greatest CPU because I know my users don't.

I have met many tech bros who are nerds, a lot of you seem to be in denial

you are doing a great job.