While doing some background reading on transcoding I came across this page titled Computers but giving a pretty accurate description of a so called non-hardcore nerd. It is very familiar. So I must confess to being one.
This is the paragraph that clinched it:
… we non-hardcore nerds do have something very important in common with the hardcore nerds: we all believe that it is important to understand how things work, and when the opportunity arises, to make them work better. We are all uneasy at the thought that many non-nerds are willing to let other people figure these things out. We don’t feel comfortable not knowing how our computers work. This is why, for example, so many nerds, hardcore and non, are uncomfortable with Windows as an operating system. The idea that Microsoft knows better than anyone else how to write an operating system, and that it is OK for them to keep all the details secret because they have this great knowledge, to a nerd is patently ridiculous. Not only is it obvious to practically all Windows users that Windows has plenty of bugs (if you doubt this, surf the Microsoft Windows Update site sometime and count the number of patches released), but it is equally obvious to practically all nerds that Windows has plenty of flaws even when it is working properly. For example: do you ever wonder why Windows is the only operating system for which anti-virus software is a major piece of the market? Ever wonder why all of the big virus attacks that have made national or international headlines have exploited security flaws in Microsoft programs? (Hint: It’s not because all operating systems and software are inherently vulnerable to viruses. *)
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