1. Blogs about stuff people like
Oh, how iPhone owners love their iPhones. Image from www.sharpteam.org.
You may have heard of Stuff White People Like or Stuff Christians Like or Stuff Journalists Like. This string of blogs and blog names shows that people who know how to create blogs — people who could be considered techies — like writing blogs about stuff people like, especially groups of people they belong to. It also shows that techies like to take other people’s ideas and put their own spin on them.
This trend is also displayed in FML and MLIA. So what you are reading now is a blog by a techie that puts a spin on others’ ideas about stuff people like. If that’s not a trifecta, I don’t know what is. Anyhow, on with the list.
2. Twittering about technology
If there’s one thing techies like, it’s using social networking tools to compare new operating systems, new gadgets and generally show off their prowess and knowledge about “cutting edge” technology. For example, here is a real-life Twitter exchange. Twitter handles have been changed to protect me. You know, so my Twitter buddies won’t be mad.
@joeschmo SUPER impressed with @joblow’s new Django joint: @storybird. Fun, collaborative children’s book builder. Demo video: http://bit.ly/n0iDo
@joblow They’re well-deserved. My first thought was just “Hm, neat. Nice-looking site.” Then I watched video on how it works, and WOW!
From the techie lingo to the lightning-quick speed with which they post the news of discovering a new techie toy, it is quite apparent that techies like Twittering about technology.
3. Showing and comparing iPhone Apps
If you, as a non-iPhone owner, mention or ask about iPhones in the presence of an iPhone owner, be prepared for a presentation. In no time, the iPhone user will pull out said iPhone and show you, the non-iPhone user, her or his favorite applications.
If you are in the presence of another iPhone owner, the other iPhone owner will pull out his or her iPhone — trust me, they can’t resist — and they will compare iPhone Apps, iPhone experiences. Also — and this is not a joke — I have witnessed real, live iPhone users comparing the prices of their iPhone cases.
4. Tech speak
The uber techies — techies on the top of the techie chain, not down here with the mere template blog users — love tech speak. Words that confuse and lose non-techies. The word “joint,” used above by @joeschmo is a good example, as there are many definitions of the word “joint,” but only techies use it to mean “web application.”
Other examples of tech speak include “workarounds,” “plugin,” “leapfrogging,” “special field lookups” and “codec.” By the way, if you think that “leapfrogging” is that game little kids play where they jump over each other, you are not a techie.
5. Tech blogs
Yes, now this techie writing about stuff techies like for a tech blog is saying that techies like tech blogs. But they do! Gizmodo, Engadget, Cool Tools, Boing Boing and, of course, Adworkz, are some of the tech blogs that techies just can’t get enough of.
