Sunday, July 13, 2008

A Great Read: Decluttering for Geeks

box with cables and other computer junk

Are you a geek? Do you live with a geek? Or do you just know a lot of geeks? In any of these cases, you'll probably enjoy Decluttering for Geeks, by Evan Goer.

Only Part 1 (of a 4-part series) is available now; I'm so looking forward to the rest! Part 1 deals with decluttering computer components; here's an excerpt.
Most self-respecting geeks go through a phase of building their own computers. ...

But like mathematics and women's gymnastics, system building is a youngster's game. Although the truly hardcore might stick with this hobby for decades, the typical geek burns out around their 30th birthday. All of a sudden, debugging overheating problems and scouring the internet for updated drivers becomes... less fun. You've reached the magical age where time begins to > money. Maybe it's because you're making more money, or maybe it's because you feel the icy hand of death approaching. Either way, you sell out. You buy a Name Brand Computer, possibly a shiny silver one with a fruity logo. At first you feel guilty, dirty even. Then you get over it.

The end result is closets full of old, decaying systems, plus scads of individual components: Pentium II motherboards, PCI sound cards, and cables. Lots and lots of cables.
[Photo by Extra Ketchup / Michael Surran]

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