I would like to paint you a picture. One you might be familiar with if you think back to your high school career or even your tertiary institution. Remember the kid that never played sport, was not very popular and never got invited to the “coolest” functions / gatherings? He / She were usually the one who was teased a lot, had glasses, lots of pimples, never excelled at their subjects they studied at school and generally did not interact with others apart from those who share their common interest…I present to you, the GEEK (also referred to as nerds in some spots).

Usually the victim of popular school jocks, they permanently lived in fear of being beaten up by members of the first rugby team, never got to date the prettiest girl in school BUT, they always had the coolest gadgets, fastest computers and most amazing analytical minds (well, most of them).

They are at peace with themselves, knowing what they want out of life and embrace change. They love loud music (does not matter what it is although most tend to like rock / metal bands) and thrive on take-aways (like most people I know). In general, an interesting group of people.

Having grown up very fond of my computer (I got my first gaming console at the age of 4), and also being a sports fanatic and socially super active, I guess you can classify me as a bit of a geek. I would have qualified under quite a few of the above stereotypes but this article is not about looking into my past and creating a list of all the people I did not like at school, it is more about voicing my opinion of how the world is changing and (in later articles), how this affects the way we view things and respond to them.

A statement me and some friends often make is that “Geek is the new jock”. Pretty profound, I know. I might also be generalizing here but these days people tend to embrace this derogatory term as a reference to knowledge (similar to guru or expert), just think about your IT Department…*usually referred to as “The IT guy(s)”. The recent TV series “Chuck” portrayed a geek as being a hero to America. He works hard to earn his hourly wage but people turn to him for advice on various things…is this not what is happening in the world today?

In years past, geeks were always the ones swopping information about the coolest sites from which to download game hacks, patches, trainers etc. They always drooled over the fastest CPU’s, graphic cards, handheld devices, gaming consoles and other pieces of tech. Jocks could not care less. All they wanted to do was get into the 1^st rugby, soccer or cricket team and get wasted on Friday afternoons.

How the times have changed for the better.

In current times, everyone who owns a console (and let’s be honest, how many households don’t?) cannot wait for the next new game title that is due or has just been released so they can bask in the awesomeness of the game developers newly created hero. They swop in-game secrets, high-scores and compete for that top spot which is accompanied by bragging rights for a while.

By no means am I saying the “Jock” is extinct, you just need to ask if the traditional jock really has a future in this fast moving world of technology where the more complicated the gadget, the cooler you are. Just think about cellular telephones…Point out one kid in any school that does not aspire to the latest iPhone, Blackberry or Nokia. They aspire to driving the fastest car one day with an MP3 player, Bluetooth, Flash disk socket with all the bells and whistles like cruise control, paddle shift gearbox etc. etc. They are more than likely connected to their peers on MSN, Twitter, Facebook (at least), MySpace and other social networking sites.

The rise of the geek is happening and this market is becoming more and more demanding (we will explore more on this in later articles), except that, it is now a lifestyle followed by pretty much every person you will meet in the business world today. Flat screen TVs, BlueRay players, surround sound systems, PDA’s, laptops, netbooks, projectors, iPads it does not matter! It is everywhere you look!

Geeks are taking over the world and are making the world an interesting place to live in. They are empowering people everywhere who now have access to a wealth of information and can share anything across the globe. As Bill Gates once said, “Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.”