What’s the difference between a Seattle Geek, a Seattle Nerd, and their real-world counterparts in Silicon Valley?
It didn’t take last week’s Emerald City Comicon to put the answer into sharper focus — but it probably helped!
According to an infographic produced by our friends at Killer Infographics (no, they are not “Gangsta”), based on data compiled by MastersInIt.org, the following heuristics apply.
The term “Geek” gained popularity not in tech, but in the circus. Circus people who performed amazing feats were Geeks.
By contrast, “Nerd” was coined by Dr.Seuss in 1954 in a line that read “A nerkle, a nerd, and a seersucker too!” “Nerkle” and “seersurker” are synonymous with nerd.
87% of people surveyed prefer the word Geek over Nerd. 65% of video game designers and 37% of bloggers identify as Geeks.
A Geek is the person to come to for Technology advice, and has a higher chance of being professionally successful 47% to 28% compared to Non-Geeks.
Seattle vs. San Jose, Redmond vs. Mountain View, Bellevue vs. Cupertino
The lines are getting a bit blurry between Silicon Valley and The Emerald Forest, especially when you consider the number of California Geeks firm that have have emigrated to the Great Northwest.
Consider that Google, EA, Hulu, Zynga, Salesforce, eBay, Jawbone and Facebook all have have set up digs here.
So what distinguishes a Seattle Geek from the Silicon Valley species?
According to Killer Infographics, the Seattle Geek is characterized by the tote-along bicycle, ferry pass, 3DS, Starbuck’s card and Kindle Fire, compared to a BART pass, lift ticket, PSP, Android Tablet and iPhone. One is stuck in traffic on Route 520, the other on Highway 101. SAo now you know how to spot the not-so-rare birds in their native habitat. [24×7]
“Angry Birds” In Space Needle
It began with a giant, inflatable “Angry Bird” using the Seattle Space Needle as a slingshot.
And now, the wildly popular mobile, tabvlet and desktop Mac and PC game is repaying the favor by placing the Space Needle inside the Angry Bird’s game.
The status update: “In our first Angry Birds Space update, you too will be able to conquer the Space Needle! Coming soon, for FREE!” [24×7]
