A Mind Lost

I have just specced a new desktop for my desk at work and, for the first time in 20 years, I will be using a computer at home or work which I haven’t built with my own hands.  I bought an off-the-shelf Acer Veriton and all I need to do is put a dual-head graphics card into it and it’s ready to go.

Does this mean I’ve lost my geek credentials?  I certainly don’t have the old passion for tinkering I used to have and I bought this PC because I simply couldn’t be bothered to research the component specifications to assemble a new one by hand.  The processor market for one is an utter mess where model numbers mean nothing.  At least under the old CPU MHz ratings you had some, admittedly inaccurate, sense of where the CPU sat in the speed stakes.  Maybe the technology is passing me by and I can’t be bothered to keep up with hardware I don’t need to use.  I’ve gone from geek to informed consumer.  As a geek I would have spent hours and £800 putting together a finely tuned PC to match all my needs whereas as an informed consumer, I spent 10 minutes and £450 to get a machine that gets 98% of the way there and the other 2% I don’t really need anyway.

People I know will still call me a geek and it is still a badge worn with at least a little pride, although it seems to get more tarnished as the years pass.