comics for sad rules
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pictures_for_Sad_Children
In some ways “outdated”, too edgy, but in some details maybe even more relevant today than it originally was.
(1/3 of humanity having no electricity is a bit exaggerated, in 2000 it was 1/5.)
I think people are being way too harsh on this comic. Yeah all of us are the kinda nerd to reuse and upcycle old tech and be a positive kind of nerd. Look at the site you are using guys, I think the nerd demographic might be skewed towards a certain kind here. It is also not saying all nerds, it mentions various ways nerds can be healthy and productive so clearly there are positive ways to be a nerd according to the author. And yeah it is focusing on the toxicity of nerd culture, which I think it is right about. There are nerds who are getting the brand new iphone, or the latest graphics card, or that new smarthome device. They are just a very specific but also very publicly facing and famous kind of nerd. For every Salem Techsperts, think of every Linus Tech Tips. Both are nerds, just different kinds of nerds, and unfortunately we are the minority.
If the comic doesnt describe you, then it isnt talking about you. Its talking about a certain kinda nerd. Should it use a more specific label like techbro? Yeah probably, but while thats true, I think we all also need to stop taking it so personally and recognize it aint talking about us. It is simply asking nerds not to be wasteful and to use our hobbies in a positive way. That is not a bad message.
Unless you happen to draw cartoons or try to beat videogames quickly. Then it is talking about you.
I do find the reactions interesting, including the negative. The comics by this author were pretty popular, running from 2007 to 2014, but today they do strike an odd note in some regards (as I already anticipated in my description; perhaps that’s why the author nuked her site). Techbro wasn’t a term at the time yet, so ‘nerd’ it was. And I do have the impression nerdiness was more consumerist at the time…
Yeah while I’m sure there were plenty of nerds rocking old Thinkpads at the time too, I don’t think the counterculture of resisting new tech hype was quite at the swell it is now. In 2010 fighting over Android vs iOS and whether the new HTC phone was gonna be an iPhone killer was a pretty big part of “nerd” culture. In some ways I’m not sure that’s changed, other than perhaps the type of devices we lust over being different. (The Steam Deck is totally gonna kill Windows guys!)