## 41 Being Nostalgeek

This post could be a draft of a much more developed post in the french blog. It's a first way to define this neologism, Nostalgeek. As you can understand, it's a mix between nostalgia and geek, nostalgia for old geek things. The word is a little more french and used on different social networks and websites also as a pseudonym. That's not my business here but I like the word.

I'm now in the second half of my life for sure (No, I don't know when I die)... and that's changing a lot of things. For health of course but I have nothing to complain about, compared to other people....for the moment. But for all the geek subjects, it's a matter of experience. The word geek is very popular since the 2000 years and the etymology is difficult to find. Even the meaning has changed but I'm using it as "computer geek" : an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity. Of course, you must also think about the other meanings : "a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked" "a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"... No, not the last one :-D

The meaning has changed because the world has changed. More technology for everyone but a technology that everyone don't understand. I'm not saying that when I was young, I could understand everything about my computer (I was a teenager then) but I could clearly much understand at this moment than a teenager of today with a smartphone in his/her hand. I didn't understand how the transistors and other electronic components worked but I could understand how some of the programs were working... if not in Assembly Language. Now, many programmers don't even know what is assembly language because no one uses low-level languages. But they now much more on high-level languages and modern way to develop games and apps. We have so much power in a smartphone, compared to a 8 bit computer that optimization of the code is often not made. Much of the power is lost in libraries, levels of tools and dependencies. I can see it on the computer I use to write this, my old pal Lenovo X270.

Being a Nostalgeek means understanding what we have in our hands and recognizing what is truly useful. Back in 1983, when I saw the first personal computers, I couldn't have imagined the internet on a phone. But I had a lot of fun with early electronic games like the Game & Watch series. Some of these games have been re-released or copied today. Nowadays, however, we have many photorealistic games on the latest generation of consoles and PCs. I had to use my imagination to see Star Wars in those wire-frame games of the '70s and '80s. Now, it's like I'm in a movie. But is it more or less fun to play? Is the experience as good? Not for most games, I don't think. Yesterday, I played Stray, controlling a cat as it explored a photorealistic universe. It's fun to be a cat, but ultimately it's just a 3D platformer with some puzzle elements. In terms of gaming experience, it's not very different from a 2D game like Rick Dangerous or a 3D game like Super Mario 64. Has it really taken 25 years just to make it photorea
listic and to make it a "real" cat? Looking at all the best games of this year, it's the same: not a new concept, but a mix of old ideas made more realistic and often more complex, which causes a loss of fun. 

I could buy a better PC, a PS5 or Xbox One series but I don't want it. It's not a matter of price of the console or the games but a matter of gamer experience. I have enough fun with my collection of old games, especially those of the later 80s to the 2000s. Everything has been done there because the hardware power was limited and stimulated creativity. Of course, there are sometimes good surprises in indie games but most of them are copying old recipes of the 80s and 90s. I have tested many of them recently to say it. Being Nostalgeek is being conscious of the past in IT, computers...

However, we should also be aware of the dangers of IA and computers in our lives. I can't imagine someone being a 'Nostalgeek' unless they're over 40. Experience and mistakes have taught me many things. I have seen the rise of social networks, smartphones, PDAs and the internet, and I can imagine doing a lot of things without them. Being a Nostalgeek isn't about being against progress, but about understanding what real progress is. Many of my geeky colleagues of a similar age to me are like me with technology. Unlike other people my age, I don't use AI, VR or most apps, often blind to the dangers of that. We are entering a period of techno-fascism, as many observers have described. Being a Nostalgeek also means thinking that the past was simpler, but not necessarily better. To be continued ? 

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