Post AkBjXdQW4TGhGLGoAy by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #AkBinsG8akGpwbaxcm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-22T12:03:12Z
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What makes a guy a "tech guy" -- when I hear "tech guy" my *initial* (but rapidly recalibrating) reaction is to think of a scientist or inventor, an intelligent, interesting person. "tech guys" are people who have studied their craft, or area of research, inventing new tech, implementing it. Are any of these people called "tech guys" in media really all that "tech"?And where are the "tech girls" dare I ask? Where my "tech theys?" at?IMO we need some of that *gatekeeping* and pop quizzes.
(DIR) Post #AkBj7U48FjC2hVKXjc by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-22T12:06:43Z
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Owning a company that does a lot of things with computers does not make one a "tech guy."Though, this does help me to understand why memetech like AI gets chased by these people so relentlessly. It's part of keeping up their appearance. When the people who really care about such things explain the nuance, and the lack of instant miracles no one listens. Computers aren't new anymore. The internet isn't new. The cutting edge is someplace else where none of these people are even looking.
(DIR) Post #AkBjOHElCbErpvJEKO by glennsills@dotnet.social
2024-07-22T12:09:43Z
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@futurebird Ah! I see your mistake here! "Tech guy" is a gender-neutral term - some are female. They are most often not technical per se, but work in "tech" businesses, in non-technical roles because most of the jobs in "tech" are non-technical. Marketing, sales, and management come to mind. These people take a cheerleading approach to technology. Technical people are programmers, testers, engineers, scientists, those sorts of things. Not "tech guys".
(DIR) Post #AkBjW1fcxjwBsFZSqW by Alon@mastodon.social
2024-07-22T12:11:05Z
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@futurebird Yeah, one of the things I've noticed about Musk fans is that when I criticize Hyperloop and Boring to them on technical grounds, they never engage technically - they handwave it as "Musk is a genius, look at how he revolutionized rockets, he must have figured this out too." The gap between this and what tech workers talk to me about is vast.
(DIR) Post #AkBjXdQW4TGhGLGoAy by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-22T12:11:12Z
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The "tech guy" label also conjures modern values. Some notions of equality for women. Equal opportunity. A logical set of values unencumbered by traditionalism and superstition. But, that's not what these guys are like at all. So, maybe stop calling them "tech guys."
(DIR) Post #AkBk4oPaFZkut7ebo0 by danblondell@masto.nyc
2024-07-22T12:17:16Z
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@futurebird “Money brutes”
(DIR) Post #AkBkoKT1unINL0yCy8 by noplasticshower@zirk.us
2024-07-22T12:25:39Z
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@futurebird we call ourselves "techies" fwiw. And there are plenty of deep geek women. We are not "tech bros" as that seems to be some kind of junior fraternity.
(DIR) Post #AkBkpsKVV5WGeNil0q by matera@mastodon.sdf.org
2024-07-22T12:25:56Z
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@futurebird ima tech _person_
(DIR) Post #AkBkyObROSnF3nhjiC by Apiary@mastodon.social
2024-07-22T12:27:28Z
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@futurebird for me it immediately conjures images of poorly socialized money hungry dudes who think all problems are technology problems.
(DIR) Post #AkBmMOPPrlM7MZ5QEi by aud@fire.asta.lgbt
2024-07-22T12:41:01.240Z
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@futurebird@sauropods.win one thing I hate about this Iron Man/Tony Stark thing they all love to pretend they have going on is… well, that. They are capitalists, all of them. Their only skill is to con and to make certain numbers go higher. They’re not engineers, they’re not scientists, they’re not inventors. Musk has never built a single rocket or car; Altman has not had his nose to the grindstone creating LLMs.They’re certainly not even managers, as evidenced by their cults of personality or the fact that Musk must be managed. They are Bosses, in the worst sense of the word, and I hate how much popular culture seems to bestow these bosses with the ideological fruits of their workers. I hate it so, so much.
(DIR) Post #AkBmMPOOD482Pfc7H6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2024-07-22T12:43:01Z
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@aud Stolen Valorbut the nerd kind
(DIR) Post #AkBnj25h6tqkl8Dm6K by lampsofgold@veoh.social
2024-07-22T12:58:14Z
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@futurebird I’ve always been fond of calling the Elon types “big business boys”
(DIR) Post #AkBr9oM8aFSTqJNBEu by trochee@dair-community.social
2024-07-22T13:36:46Z
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@futurebird @aud Ed Zitron has been on it, lately (and probably before). His latest few podcasts /newsletters / righteous rants have been about how the management of tech companies in particular has been parasitized by MBA managers who don't actually know anything about the tech they're buildingHe blames Jack Welch, actually, but he names some names among the current tech baronies https://www.wheresyoured.at/tss/
(DIR) Post #AkBraFgLboUQ7cQxn6 by cshlan@dawdling.net
2024-07-22T13:41:31Z
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@futurebird"Tech guy" has become a denigrating phrase. Like "fan boy/girl". Out of context it seems like it should apply to people positively but it's usually used to talk about someone tech/computer/internet adjacent who's kind of a fool and/or jerk.
(DIR) Post #AkBsUkiFQOQmZvGRai by marence@urbanists.social
2024-07-22T13:51:31Z
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@futurebird “Tech guys” are the people who build, implement, and fix the tech. “Tech bros” are the crypto followers, Muskites, and assholes that give the rest of us a bad name.
(DIR) Post #AkBtokYnnhhPqrwghk by lysdexic@hachyderm.io
2024-07-22T14:06:32Z
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@futurebird I've been referred to as the Computer Lady, Tech Lady, Top Nerd, Help desk Genius, and Cheetos Girl. On here, we find each other with #WomenInTech. Back to your point, though, your initial image is close to my thoughts, too. A "Technician" *is* someone who is highly skilled at things and that's who you want working with you on high complexity stuff. It seems like a subset of specialist.
(DIR) Post #AkBxQfGkDnI4J9GnVA by Lachesis@ohai.social
2024-07-22T14:46:59Z
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@futurebird the techie masses
(DIR) Post #AkC3mLAeE7Di4O8Zg8 by norgralin@hachyderm.io
2024-07-22T15:58:09Z
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@futurebird I don’t think people who actually create new technology call themselves “tech guys”. There are plenty of people who call themselves “researchers”, “developers”, or “engineers”.
(DIR) Post #AkC8dh2s1mhl4qCBXs by uq@mas.to
2024-07-22T16:52:37Z
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@futurebird I think “tech bro” is appropriate. It conjures up an image of a jock cosplaying a nerd. Which is basically what these guys are.
(DIR) Post #AkCyILpgtb0ip4AwEa by falcennial@mastodon.social
2024-07-23T02:31:25Z
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@futurebird 💯💯 brilliantly put.for the same sake of accuracy I have never called that cohort "tech guys" I normally call them a word that describes them and their actions accurately.
(DIR) Post #AkGt6JhhGMTbbeiag4 by FeralRobots@mastodon.social
2024-07-24T23:52:00Z
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@futurebird reminds me a bit of a critique Anil Dash has sometimes engaged around the concept of a 'tech industry' - basically, much of the so called tech sector isn't really about technology at all.